Lincoln's Springfield

2007-11-25T15:50:00.002-06:00

LINCOLN’S SPRINGFIELD

GREEK REVIVAL ARCHITECTURE

Spring Creek Series

Richard E. Hart

Front Cover Illustration: Springfield Marine and Fire Insurance Company on the East Side of the Public Square: Circa 1860’s, designed by St. Louis architect George I. Barnett.[1]

Back Cover Illustration: The First Presbyterian Church built in 1843 at the southeast corner of Third and Washington Streets.

All proceeds from the sale of this pamphlet will benefit the Elijah Iles House Foundation.

The mission of the Elijah Iles House Foundation is to preserve, restore and endow the maintenance of the Elijah Iles House for the use and appreciation of the citizens of Springfield and its visitors.

From the 1820s until the Civil War, Greek Revival was a one-style-fits-all building design choice of rich and poor, in town and country, North and South, from the Atlantic Ocean to the new Midwest and around the Cape to California. There were regional variations, to be sure, and these help to make house-gazing a continuing pleasure in all these regions.

Lincoln’s Springfield:
Greek Revival Architecture in Early Springfield, Illinois
Spring Creek Series.
Copyright 2007, Springfield, Illinois. All rights reserved.
First Printing, February, 2007

Table of Contents

Springfield Named State Capitol................................................... 10
1830................................................................................................... 23
Peleg C. Canedy Builds First Two-Story Brick Building............... 23
John F. Rague Designs Old State Capitol...................................... 24
Elijah Iles Builds American House............................................... 25
John Todd Stuart Residence on South Fourth Street..................... 27
Elijah Iles Builds House on South Sixth....................................... 28
Residence at Seventh and Enos.................................................... 30
Lawrason Levering House Built................................................... 30
1839................................................................................................... 31
Illinois State Bank Building Built.................................................. 31
Rev. Dresser Builds Greek Revival Cottage.................................. 33
Second Presbyterian Church Built................................................ 34
Davis Meredith Builds Greek Revival Farm Residence................. 35
Tinsley Building at Sixth and Adams Streets................................ 36
Woodcut of the Tinsley Building, South Side of the Public Square: June 4, 1850 36
First Methodist Church Annex..................................................... 38
John Gardner’s Greek Revival Farm House................................. 39
Samuel Jesse Stout Farm Residence............................................. 42
John F. Rague Advertises Real Estate For Sale............................. 42
1843................................................................................................... 43
First Presbyterian Church Built.................................................... 43
1845................................................................................................... 46
Sangamon County Court House Built........................................... 46
1846................................................................................................... 48
C. M. Smith Residence at Fifth and Jackson................................. 48
1853................................................................................................... 51
First Christian Church Builds New Church at Sixth and Jefferson Streets 51
Illinois State University Building.................................................. 54
1854................................................................................................... 55
Enterprise Building Built.............................................................. 55
1855................................................................................................... 56
State of Illinois Arsenal Built....................................................... 56
First Methodist (Episcopal) Church Constructed At Southeast Corner of Fifth and Monroe Streets 58
Portuguese Church at Eighth and Miller Northeast Corner............ 60
Island Grove Methodist Church................................................... 60
The May 11, 1855 Fire................................................................ 60
Preston Butler’s Photograph of the West Side of the Public Square Looking North: Circa 1859 61
Haerting’s Drawing of the North Side of the Public Square: Circa 1860 63
1856................................................................................................... 64
Edwards School Built................................................................... 64
Palmer School Built...................................................................... 64
Lincolns Remodel Home.............................................................. 65
1857................................................................................................... 65
Peter Cartwright Methodist Church............................................... 65
Trapp School Built....................................................................... 66
1857................................................................................................... 66
North Side of Square.................................................................... 66
Preston Butler’s Photograph of the North Side of the Public Square Looking East: Circa 1859 66
West Side of the Public Square..................................................... 70
Haerting’s Drawing of the West Side of the Public Square: Circa 1860 71
Decline of Greek Revival Style..................................................... 71
Ursaline Academy........................................................................ 72
Reisch Brewery............................................................................ 75

INTRODUCTION

Conventional descriptions of Lincoln's Springfield are most often negative. We have all read of the dirty and dusty unpaved streets, the free roaming animals, and the small, nondescript residential cottages. But beyond these conventional portrayals, Springfield was a magnificent little town at the time Abraham Lincoln walked its streets. As the proud new capitol of a growing and prospering state, it embraced a new American style of architecture that emerged and flourished between 1820 and 1860. The style imitated classical Greek architecture and became known as Greek Revival. The architecture expressed a proud and optimistic America and Springfield welcomed the style in its residences, churches and commercial and governmental buildings.

The first appearance of the Greek Revival style in Springfield occurred in 1837. In that year, Springfield resident, John Francis Rague, won the contest for the architectural design of Illinois’ new State House—what we now know as the Old State Capitol. Rague was born in New Jersey in 1798 and moved with his family to New York City when he was young. He worked as a draftsman in the New York office of Minard Lafever, a builder and architect who was one of the fathers of the Greek Revival movement in America. Rague married and in 1831 moved to Springfield where he operated a bakery. In Springfield, Rague was also an organizer of the Second Presbyterian Church, the leader of the Second Presbyterian Church choir, a vice-president of the Illinois State Musical Association, a Springfield Town Trustee, a director of the Illinois Mutual Fire Insurance Company, the first President of the Springfield Mechanics Union, a trustee of Springfield Academy, and the Town Market Master.

What an extraordinary coincidence that Rague moved to Springfield from New York in 1831 and that in 1837 Springfield was selected as Illinois’ new capitol city. And what a further coincidence that Rague’s Greek Revival design was chosen for Illinois’ new State House, a building that became central in the Springfield life of Abraham Lincoln.

Rague’s Greek Revival design of the State House ushered in a period, roughly from 1837 to 1860, during which Greek Revival architecture thrived in Springfield. There are many excellent examples: the State House (1837)(extant), the American House (1837), the Elijah Iles House (circa 1837)(extant), the Tinsley Block (1837)(partially extant), the Illinois State Bank (1839), the Second Presbyterian Church (1839), the Davis Meredith Farmhouse (1839)(extant), the First Presbyterian Church (1843), the Sangamon County Court House (1845), the Third Presbyterian Church (1851), the Illinois State Arsenal (1855), the Methodist Episcopal Church (1855), the John Gardner Farmhouse (18__)(extant) and the Lincoln Home (originally built as one story cottage in 1839)(extant).

Abraham Lincoln spent much of his Springfield life in these Greek Revival structures. His house at Eighth and Jackson was a Greek Revival cottage. His wife’s church, First Presbyterian, was a magnificent example of Greek Revival liturgical architecture. If one walked around the Public Square in 1845, the predominant structures would have been Greek Revival in design. The State House, where Lincoln spent much of his professional and political life, has been termed one of the finest examples of Greek Revival architecture west of the Allegany’s. The east side of the Public Square was graced with two magnificent Greek Revival public buildings—the State Bank of Illinois and the Sangamon County Court House. At the southeast corner of the Square, one would find the American House and the Tinsley Block, where Lincoln and Herndon had their law office. Some of the homes of Lincoln’s friends, such as the residence of Robert Irwin, now known as the Iles House, where he spent many leisure hours, were of the Greek Revival style. Many of the Sangamon County farm houses that he visited or passed on horseback were also of a simple Greek Revival style.

Here then is a glimpse into Lincoln’s Springfield—Greek Revival Architecture on the Prairie.

Richard E. Hart
Springfield, Illinois
November 1, 2009

John Francis Rague

The origins of Greek Revival architecture in Springfield may be traced to two men—Minard Lafever and John Francis Rague. Lafever, born on August 10, 1798 in Morristown, New Jersey, was one of the fathers of Greek Revival architecture in America. Seven months after Lafever’s birth, Rague was born in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. Here is the story of the two men and their relationship, culminating in Rague’s 1837 magnificent Greek Revival design for the Illinois State House, one of the finest Greek Revival structures in America and the first of the Greek Revival design in Springfield.

John Francis Rague’s father, Dr. John Rague, came from France to the American Colonies as the personal physician of General La Fayette during the Revolutionary War. He married Hannah Bonnel in 1781 and remained in America after the Revolution. In 1804, Dr. Rague and his family, including 5 year-old John, moved to New York City where John began attending school in 1806 at age 7. Dr. Rague died of a war wound when John was a child.

On April 16, 1820, 21 year-old John Francis Rague married Eliza M. Van Dyke and a year later John was working in New York City. Their marriage, characterized as “tempestuous,” ended in divorce in Springfield in 1856.

In 1828, 29 year-old Minard Lafever moved from Newark, New Jersey to New York City where he worked as an architectural draftsman and carpenter for John Haviland, Martin Euclid Thompson, and Ithiel Town and frequently associated with architects James H. Dakin, Alexander Jackson Davis, and James Gallier. In 1828, John F. Rague was working in Minard Lafever’s New York office, studying architecture and copying drawings and plans.

Minard Lafever … belonged to a different world from that frequented by Town and Davis, but his influence also was deep and wide. Trained as a carpenter in the Finger Lakes region of New York, to which his family had moved in his early childhood from his birthplace near Morristown, he was entirely self-taught architecturally. He preserved all his life something of the common-sense practicality of his early training, and during at least the early part of his practice in New York (where he arrived in 1828) he worked as a draftsman for builders. It was hard and not particularly rewarding work…and apparently it prevented Lafever from emerging as a full-fledged professional architect until the forties. Davis never mentions him, yet undoubtedly his designs and his books exerted a tremendous influence in the New York of that time. It is by his first three books that his Greek Revival work must be judged: The Young Builder’s General Instructor (1829), The Modern Builders’ Guide (1833), and The Beauties of Modern Architecture (1835). His artistic progress from the crudity of the first to the polished restraint of the last is amazing in so brief a period; it shows Lafever to have been not only an omnivorous reader but a designer of unusual and continually growing aesthetic sensitiveness. All the books are simple and unassuming. All bear witness to their author’s carpenter training and his eagerness to help those who like himself entered architecture through the building trades. Yet all the books show a driving, imaginative, creative force that expresses itself with clear and lovely restraint. The second and third contain probably the most exquisite and the least archaeological of all American Greek Revival detail—personal, inventive, restrained. As a pure creator of beautiful form—the pure artist in architecture—Lafever was at his time unrivaled.

In 1829, Minard Lafever published The Young Builder’s General Instructor.

Minard Lafever (in his “Young Builder’s General Instructor,” published in Newark in 1829 and one of the most of the many builder’s guides that popularized ornament and construction details for Greek Revival architecture) extolled a temple in Athens - known to him only through books - for the “elegant base of the columns,” the “grand” proportions of the entablature, the “spacious surface of the frieze,” and the “strength” of its appearance.

The 1829-30 Manhattan New York City Directory lists Minard Lafever as a carpenter living at 24 Watts. In succeeding directories, he listed himself as an architect. The 1829-30 Manhattan City Directory lists John F. Rague as a mason living at 21 Stanton. In the early 1830s, this was a neighborhood of red brick row houses stretching north of Soho between Second Avenue and Washington Square. This district was New York’s prime residential area from the 1830s through the Civil War. James Gallier described the architectural world of New York in the early 1830s:
On my arrival in New York on the 14th of April, 1832, I considered a large city as the most likely place to expect employment in my profession, but I found that the majority of people could with difficulty be made to understand what was meant by a professional architect; the builders, that is, the carpenters and bricklayers, all called themselves architects, and were at that time the persons to whom owners of property applied when they required plans for building; the builder hired some poor draftsman, of whom there were some half a dozen in New York at that time, to make the plans, paying him a mere trifle for his services. The drawings so made were, it is true, but of little value, and some proprietors built without having any regular plan. When they wanted a house built, they looked about for one already finished, which they thought suitable for their purpose; and then bargained with

a builder to erect for them such another, or one with such alterations upon the model as they might point out. All this was soon changed, however, and architects began to be employed by proprietors before going to the builders; and in this way in a short time, the style of buildings public and private showed signs of rapid improvement.

In early 1831, 32 year-old John F. Rague was still living in New York where he continued to work in the office of Minard Lafever. By March of 1831, Rague and his wife, Eliza, had moved from New York City to Springfield, where the first evidence of their presence is their joining the First Presbyterian Church in March 1831.

In spite of his many talents, John F. Rague had a serious defect in his personality: he chased women and sometimes caught them! It mattered little to him that he definitely was not single. His wife testified that he began to stray during the second year of their marriage. Probably to save face, the couple fled from New York City and settled down in Springfield late in the fall of 1831.

He came here from New York in 1831 and during his stay of ten years engaged in such a variety of unrelated activities that his record is somewhat fabulous. In addition to being a baker he bought and sold real estate, and served as president of the Mechanics Union, an organization that operated a school, and which later acquired our first church building after the church outgrew it.

Without a demand for his building skills, Rague eventually opened a bakery and accepted mundane town-government positions in order to support himself and his family.

On July 26, 1832, John F. Rague advertised in the Sangamo Journal that he “continues the Bakery business” in a new brick building “a few doors west of Garland and Edmondson’s store.” He stated that he was a wholesaler as well as a retailer.

John F. Rague Advertises Bakery in Sangamo Journal

From 1833 to 1834, Rague served as Springfield’s market master. “In 1830 … soon after it [a new Court House in the center of the Public Square] was finished a brick market house was built on the northwest corner of the square.”

In 1833, Rague submitted a bid proposal for the construction of a new Sangamon County Jail. His bid of $3,200 was not the low bid and he did not receive the contract. The bid, however, is evidence that Rague was working as a Springfield contractor/builder during the early 1830s. His bid reads as follows:

Springfield [Illegible date], 1833

Dears Sirs:

I will furnish all materials and do all the work of the contemplated Jail According to the plan and specification for the sum of Three Thousand Two Hundred Dollars ($3200).

Yours [illegible word]
John F. Rague

John Rague’s Bid Proposal For Construction of the Sangamon County Jail-1833

On August 29, 1833, John F. Rague advertised his bakery goods in the Sangamo Journal. He stated that he carried pilot bread, a very hard unsalted biscuit or bread that in earlier times was a ship’s staple. He also advertised loaf bread, rusk, crackers and cakes of various kinds. He also sold mead and beer. His place of business was a new brick house located near the public square and a few doors west of the Journal Printing Office.

John F. Rague Advertises Bakery in Sangamo Journal

In 1833, Minard Lafever published The Modern Builder’s Guide, one of the most influential books in the history of American architecture. The book was responsible for the rapid dissemination of Greek Revival architecture in the United States and carried the first temple-formed houses. Local carpenters as far south as Kentucky and as far west as Wisconsin used the book as a “builder’s guide” to construct Grecian temple-type houses and public buildings.

The heart of The Modern Builder’s Guide is the collection of plates showing elevations and full plans for churches and “country residences,” details of such structural elements as groin arches, roofing, staircases and window construction. Most important are the examples of Grecian-style ornament for use on fireplace mantels and front doors, as parlor ornamentation, etc.: rosettes, anthemion bands, consoles, anta capitals, scrolled anthemia and acanthus design. There is also detailed information on practical geometry, construction techniques of carpentry, masonry, plastering, etc.

In 1835, John F. and Eliza M. Rague were two of the 28 persons who withdrew their membership in the First Presbyterian Church and organized the Second Presbyterian Church, Springfield’s abolitionist church.

The 1835 New York Register, and City Directory lists Minard Lafever as an architect. In that same year, Lafever published The Beauties of Modern Architecture.

On October 6, 1835, John F. Rague was living on the south side of Washington Street, between Fourth and Fifth Streets. On that date he purchased 7 ½ feet of the lot adjoining to the east from John G. and Margaretta M. Bergen for $1,000. He also mortgaged his property to Erastus Wright to secure a $500 loan.

On February 5, 1836, John F. Rague purchased 400 acres of farmland for $1.25 an acre for a total of $500. The land was located in Section 27 of ______ Township. On November 11, 1836, John F. Rague purchased 80 acres of farmland in Section 13 of _________ Township. He paid $1.25 per acre or $100 for the 80 acres.

In the spring of 1836, John F. Rague was elected a Town Trustee of Springfield. He resigned the position in the fall of the same year when he went back East to work in Minard Lafever’s New York office.

Rague left the growing Midwestern community of Springfield in 1836 to return to New York City for an extended visit. Perhaps he was summoned there by Lafever himself, who by that time was well recognized for his designing talents, having completed two additional builder’s guides. The great fire that destroyed much of lower Manhattan in 1835 resulted in a flood of new commissions for most New York architects and builders, including Lafever, so that there was an acute shortage of trained personnel. Even if Lafever had not contacted him personally, Rague would have known of the situation in New York through newspaper accounts or personal correspondence. However, another factor, closer to home, seems a more probable motivation. Rague would have known of the plans to establish the state capitol in Springfield. Seeing the design of this structure as a potential commission, Rague may have seized upon the idea of a New York sojourn, viewing it as a refresher course tailored to fit his own ambitions. Knowing that his local prestige would be increased by the trip, even to the point of enabling him to secure the important capitol commission, would have been a powerful added incentive to his decision to go East. Ultimately, his success in winning the open competition against such professionals as A. J. Davis (1803-1892) and Ithiel Town (1794-1844) in 1837 allowed Rague to advance his professional status from carpenter-builder to architect, a change that might not have been possible had he remained at home in Springfield.

On February 28, 1837, the Illinois State legislature chose Springfield as the capital of Illinois and authorized the Sangamon County Commissioners Court “to convey to the Governor of the state of Illinois…that piece…of ground …known as the “public square,” containing two and half acres ..upon which… shall be erected a State House…for the State of Illinois.”

By March 27, 1837, Rague had returned to Springfield and he published a notice in the Journal captioned in bold letters “ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS.” He introduced himself by stating the he had just returned from New York. He stated that he had ten years of experience as a builder in “the city,” and now offered his services to the citizens of this country. The “city” is undoubtedly New York City where he worked from at least 1828 to the fall of 1831, prior to moving to Springfield, and from the fall of 1836 to the spring of 1837.

,
John F. Rague’s Advertisement For Architectural Drawing

Rague now offered his services to Springfield stating that he would “execute plans and elevations for buildings in any of the orders of architecture—write specifications, receive estimates, (and superintend any work of sufficient importance to require it) and construct foundations in such a manner that the buildings with neither settle or crack.”

He stated that he was prepared to execute rough castings in imitation of granite or any other stone and would do stucco work with “enriched cornices, centre pieces, etc.” He stated that wood cravings for buildings had been to a great degree replaced in Eastern Cities. He would furnish egg and dart moldings, stair brackets, etc. at less than half the cost of wood carving.

In mid April, Abraham Lincoln moved from New Salem to Springfield. In that same month, the Mechanics Institute was established in Springfield under the presidency of John F. Rague. It had a short and uneventful career and was succeeded by the Mechanics Union in 1839.

On March 22, 1838, 101 citizens of Springfield, including John F. Rague and Abraham Lincoln, signed a note for $16,666.67 to the State Bank to enable the town to pay the second installment of a pledge made in February 1837 to obtain the capital.

On January 31, 1839, John Eddy Roll married Harriet Van Dyke, who was born on January 29, 1815, in New York City. Harriet was the sister of Elizabeth Rague, the wife of John F. Rague. John Eddy Roll was born on June 9, 1814, at Green Village, New Jersey, and moved to Sangamon County in the early 1830s. In the spring of 1831, John Roll met Abraham Lincoln for the first time when at Sangamo Town he helped Lincoln build the flat boat that later became lodged on the Rutledge Dam at New Salem, Illinois. Roll made all the wooden pins used in constructing the boat. After Lincoln left Sangamo Town, Roll left as well and made his home at Springfield. He was a plasterer.

The 1839-40 Manhattan, New York City New York Directory lists Minard Lafever as an architect with offices as 9 Beckman and a residential address of 4 Allan.

On February 23, 1839, The Illinois Mutual Fire Insurance Company was incorporated with John Francis Rague as one of the directors.

On March 1, 1839, the Springfield Academy was organized and John F. Rague, together with Washington Iles, F. Webster, Jr., S. T. Logan, N. H. Ridgley, Robert Allen and Charles R. Matheny, was a member of the Board of Trustees.

For fifteen years (1839-1854) this institution, together with the Springfield Female Seminary … and the Mechanic’s Institute, bore the brunt of the educational burden, although there were always a number of smaller schools.

On December 17, 1839, a group of Springfield mechanics petitioned the Illinois legislature to pass an act incorporating the Springfield Mechanic’s Union. Lincoln presented the petition in the legislature.

John F. Rague, former baker but at that time architect of the Statehouse, was active in the [Springfield Mechanic’s] Union until called away to erect the capitol of Iowa Territory.
Membership in the Union was limited to mechanics of good moral character, free from all bodily infirmities. The first board of directors included: William D. Herndon, brick mason; J. Van Hoff, coach trimmer; John Armstrong, carpenter; John Connelly, cordwainer; E. R. Wiley, tailor; and John F. Rague and J. P. Lankford.
Members in good standing for six months could, during illness, draw $3.00 a week sick benefit, “until such disability shall terminate in health or death: Provided, that such disability has not arisen from drunkenness, horse racing, voluntary fighting, or any other vicious, improper or immoral act.”
The Union, upon the death of a member, offered $20 toward defraying funeral expenses, and, should they need it, the widow and orphans were entitled to not less than $20, nor more than $50, from the widows’ fund. Loans up to $50 at 12 per cent interest were made at the discretion of the board of directors. The Union collected almost $1,000 in dues and fines during its seven and a half years of activity. The smallness of its funds was a constant handicap in the establishment of a school for the children of the mechanics. In 1840 school plans were postponed because of the “peculiar pressure of the times.” A year later, a subscription paper which was passed among the members and the business men of the city failed to raise $450 needed to build a frame schoolhouse. In May, 1842, the First Presbyterian Church laid the cornerstone of a new church at the southeast corner of Third and Washington streets. The church, anxious to dispose of its old building, located just south of the new structure, offered to sell it to the Union for $500. The deal was made, the Union paying $212 in State Bank paper-worth but 75 per cent of its face value-and giving a note for the balance.
Immediately popular, the school’s enrollment rose to 130. Until an addition to the build¬ing could be erected in the fall of 1844, the girls were taught in the basement of the new Presbyterian Church.
The Union had an active and worth-while existence until the spring of 1847, when a shortage of funds made it impossible to pay off the mortgage on the building. The sheriff sold the property to James C. Sutton for the debt and interest amounting to $235.39. 11. The organization continued for another year after the sale and then ceased to exist.
The 1840 United States census shows John F. Rague living in Springfield, Illinois. In late March of that year, Rague traveled to St. Louis to purchase 10,000 feet of pine for the new Illinois State House.

Note. Mr. Rague the Architect left for the same point [St. Louis] on 31st March for the purchase of 10,000 feet pine, no action of the Board in relation thereto on record.
April 1st, 1840 Arch. Job.
In the spring of 1840, Rague traveled to New York City to hire skilled stonecutters and to order carved wooden capitals and hardware for the interior of the Illinois State House. It was reported that while in New York, Rague advertised in the New York Sun for twenty stone cutters for the capitol building at $2.50 per day. Two came as a result.
The bill of carving for the embellishment of the interior of the building including the dome, cost in the city of New York $2529.59. The carving having been shipped with other materials, it is impossible to give the exact cost of freight and charges; but it cannot have exceeded the sum of $250.00, which would make the net cost of the carved work amount to the sum of $2779.59. The contract for the carving and hardware was made by our Architect, Mr. Rague, by direction of the Board, and he was allowed the sum of $150.00 for expenses to and from New York; which is all that has been paid in the shape of commissions or for agents in their purchase.
In 1840, John F. Rague designed Iowa’s first state capitol building at Iowa City. Construction of the
Greek Revival style building began with the laying of the cornerstone on July 4, 1840. Nine days later, Rague resigned.

John F. Rague’s Signature, 1840

William Henry Harrison died on April 4, 1841, and Springfield honored him with a memorial service at the Second Presbyterian Church where John F. Rague directed the choir.

In 1841, John F. Rague served as an agent for the Illinois Mutual Fire Insurance Company.

On July 20, 1841, Rague bought the north 1/2 of lots 5 and 6 Block 21 OTP from Erastus Wright for $600. Rague gave Wright a note for part of the purchase price. On November 22, 1845, James C. Conkling received a master in chancery deed for the property due to a foreclosure suit filed by Wright against Rague and some other Springfield businessmen.

On August 14, 1841, Rague was elected a Vice President of the Illinois State Musical Society, organized to promote the cause of music in churches, academies and common schools.

John F. Rague Elected Vice President of Illinois State Musical Society

In August 1841, Rague was cited to appear before the Church Council for “Sabbath breaking, uttering falsehood, and ‘trifling with the sessions.’ Although the last charge was dropped, Rague never attended the Council to defend himself and he was consequently “removed” from the Second Presbyterian Church on August 24, 1842.

In 1841, Rague was involved in the dispute over the financing of the Illinois State House that ultimately led to his removal from Springfield. Although he was never proved dishonest, repercussions could have been unsettling enough to cause his lashing out as someone who might have criticized his actions or honesty.
On July 15, 1842, John F. Rague advertised in the Journal “Houses, Lands, Farms and Lots—for sale.” One of the houses is a “Grecian Cottage” opposite the Second Presbyterian Church on the east side of Fourth, between Adams and Monroe Streets.

That well built and beautiful Grecian Cottage opposite the 2nd Presbyterian Church, 46 feet square, containing six rooms, a good cellar, garret room, closet, pantries, well-room, inner portico, and portico extending across the entire front and standing on a lot 78 ½ by 160 feet in a beautiful part of the city. A credit of one or two years will be given for one-quarter or one-half of the purchase money if desired.

This little ad tells us that the “Cottage” was 46 feet square, the same exterior dimensions as the Elijah Iles house. (See page __.) The use of the word “Grecian” by Rague confirms that the term Greek Revival or variants thereof had become a part of the public vocabulary of Springfield to the extent that it would be used in a newspaper advertisement to sell a “Grecian Cottage.”

The ad also raises questions. Was this Rague’s personal residence? And if so, did he design and construct the Grecian Cottage? When did he purchase the lot? The Lincolns moved from the Globe Tavern to the same block on South Fourth Street in the fall of 1843 and lived there until the middle of 1844. Did they move to this Cottage or were they neighbors? Why was Rague selling all of this real estate? What happened between July 1842 and October 1843?

Eliza Rague was separated from the Second Presbyterian Church by letter in October 1843.

James C. Conkling received a master in chancery deed for the Rague property on Washington Street on November 22, 1845, due to a foreclosure suit filed by Wright against Rague and some other Springfield businessmen.

The 1850 United States census shows fifty year-old John F. Rague living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

In 1853, Eliza Rague left her husband and returned with their daughter to Springfield.

In 1854 at age 55, John F. Rague moved from Milwaukee to Dubuque, Iowa at the request of Stephen Hempstead, former Governor of Iowa. In that year, Rague designed a Greek Revival residence at 834 North Johnson Street–The Downey-Pickering-Glasgow House.

Minard Lafever died on September 26, 1854 at age 56.

In 1856, Elizabeth Rague filed for divorce from John on the grounds of John’s drunkenness and adultery with “divers women.” She alleged that her husband’s adultery was “publicly notorious” and his “licentiousness” had become so established that there was “no reasonable hope of his reformation.” “For the last three years John has become more and more addicted to the use of intoxicating liquors, frequently returning to his home drunk.” In the file are notes written by one of Rague’s mistresses to him. (apparently Rague met her on Sundays, after church) They were torn up but someone (Mrs. Rague?) had carefully re-assembled and pasted them together to present as evidence. Elizabeth Rague was granted the divorce.

On September 22, 1858, Elizabeth Rague married Levi H. St. Clair in Sangamon County. Levi died in April, 1866, near Rochester, Illinois.

In 1862, John Rague began to lose his eye sight, and he eventually became blind. When the first wife, Elizabeth, heard of his blindness, she came to Dubuque where she and John’s second wife worked together to help Rague until he died in 1887. He was buried in Linwood Cemetery, Dubuque, Iowa.

It seems improbable that the State House was Rague’s sole Springfield work. I have often wondered what other Springfield buildings he may have designed or influenced others to design. Proof meeting the test of legal evidence that Rague designed other Springfield buildings may never be found, but some reasonable speculations and deductions can be suggested from the known facts. Therefore, I have speculated based on what I have found as circumstantial evidence. I welcome others to refute or concur with my speculations.

1837

Illinois State House

On February 28, 1837, the Illinois State legislature chose Springfield as the capital of Illinois and authorized the Sangamon County Commissioners Court “to convey to the Governor of the state of Illinois…that piece…of ground …known as the “public square,” containing two and half acres ..upon which… shall be erected a State House…for the State of Illinois.”

On April 8, 1837, the Sangamo Journal carried an advertisement “to Architects,” announcing that a premium, of three hundred dollars would be paid for the “best plans and estimates of a Building for a State House.” Newspapers in Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania were asked to copy the advertisement. The prize was won by Springfield’s John F. Rague. He was appointed the supervising architect of the project with a salary of a thousand dollars per year. Rague’s brother-in-law, John Roll, was one of the contractors on the State House The building he designed was his most significant building project in Springfield.

The Illinois State House Draped in Mourning, May 1865,
Taken From the Southwest Corner of Fifth and Adams Looking to the Northeast
State Bank Building to Right of State House

By the end of May, 1837, the Sangamon Court House on the Public Square had been torn down to make room for the new State House. On the Fourth of July, the corner stone was laid with elaborate ceremonies. A procession marched to the public square for the dedication ceremony. The procession was led by members of the Mechanics’ Institute, of which Rague was president.

Rague would have known of the plans to establish the state capitol in Springfield. Seeing the design of this structure as a potential commission, Rague may have seized upon the idea of a New York sojourn, viewing it as a refresher course tailored to fit his own ambitions. Knowing that his local prestige would be increased by the trip, even to the point of enabling him to secure the important capitol commission, would have been a powerful added incentive to his decision to go East. Ultimately, his success in winning the open competition against such professionals as A. J. Davis (1803-1892) and Ithiel Town (1794-1844) in 1837 allowed Rague to advance his professional status from carpenter-builder to architect, a change that might not have been possible had he remained at home in Springfield.

Work on the State House continued throughout 1838 and 1839. Early in 1840 it was ready for partial occupancy, but years were to elapse before it presented a finished appearance. In 1843, for instance, one of the newspapers commented on the fact that the roof leaked, and that much of the stone intended for the front columns was lying about the yard, where it was in daily danger of injury. Not until 1853 was the building completely finished.

Elijah Iles Builds American House

In 1837, Elijah Iles constructed a three-story brick hotel at the southeast corner of Sixth and Adams Streets.

The American House at the Southeast Corner of the Public Square

Elijah Iles Builds Greek Revival House

In about 1837, Elijah Iles built a grand Greek Revival house at the southeast corner of what is now Sixth and Cook Streets. T Most Springfield residential examples of the period have vanished, but the Iles House remains as the best example of very early Greek Revival residential architecture that flourished in early Springfield and is one of Illinois’ earliest and finest examples of Greek Revival architecture. The house may have been architecturally designed by John Francis Rague, the architect for the Illinois State House. The Greek Revival design is exhibited in the house’s timber-frame construction with a raised cottage form and its low roofing with gable end pediments, banded trim, and full galley porch supported by pillars with Doric capitals. The overall dimensions of the house are 46’-6” x 44’-0”. The front entryway is recessed, surrounded by pilasters, small side and transom lights (windows) and a massive, two panel, walnut door. The historic main floor of the house has three of its four original fireplaces and walnut mantles. The interior doors, window moldings and central hall stair railing and most of the exterior walnut clapboarding and woodwork are original.

There is a monumental wooden stairs from the sidewalk grade to the front porch that is a 10 foot deep gallery that runs the full width of the front (West) elevation. The roof of the porch is continuous with the main roof of the house, and not a separate structure. The porch frieze is flat, two-piece painted wood bands of 8-inch upper and 4-inch beams painted.

There are six porch columns symmetrically spaced across the front. Each painted column is a 14 inches square shape, with a short 3-1/2 inch base trim and a wood cove capital. The porch columns were framed around large hand-hewn posts that form one end of the structural bent.

Elijah Iles House: Built Circa 1837

There is a system of 2 inch x 178-inch balusters at 5 inches on center with a wooden top oval rail and 3-1/2 inch bottom rail between the columns. The rail height is 33 inches. Much of the existing porch handrail and posts are constructed of walnut.

The west (front) elevation has four 6’-0” x 4’-6” wood double-hung windows with six over six panes, symmetrically set on each side of the center-set entry door. Each window has a pair of wood slatted shutters painted green and attached to the wood lap siding.

There are 1 x 8 pilasters at each corner of the Main Floor elevations, with crown moulds and bases that match the profile and size of the front porch columns.

The main entrance door is of monumental scale. It is one of the house’s more striking features, a large two-vertical panel walnut door, with glass side lites with 4 panes in each 4’-6” vertical opening. The bases of the sidelights have inset rectangular panels. Above the door, there is a glazed transom of 6-approximately 1’x 1’ lites. The interior trim is unique in that there is a pediment above the door itself, and a larger-frieze and pediment above the glass transom. All interior material is oiled and stained walnut.

The Upper Level east (rear) elevation has a dormer extension that brings light and ventilation to an upper stair landing. The dormer is approximately 8’-0” wide and 4’-6” in height, with a 4/12 roof pitch. The dormer contains two wood double-hung windows facing east, with 6 over 6 panes.

The Upper Level is a triangular elevation within the gable of the roof (slope runs E/W). A frieze board along the rake of the roof is an 8” painted flat fascia. There are 2 windows symmetrically balanced off the center of the upper gable face, each 2’-6” x 5’-0” wood double hung units with 6 over 6 panes.

There are 2 wood double hung windows with 6 over 6 divided lite sashes. The windows are 3’-6” x 5’-6” each. At the center of the elevation, between the two windows, is a fixed, single pane wood casement window. The window is 1’-6” x 4’-0” horizontally placed.

The Lower Level has five wood double hung windows, each 3”-0” x 3’-6” with 8 over 8 divided lites on each. Each Lower Level window has slightly arched double rowlock brick heads at each, with a solid wood panel in the arched reveal above the top sash.

On the south side, the Main Level has two large, almost floor to ceiling windows. These are slightly arch-topped double hung units, 2’-6” x 9’-6” in size. The upper sash is a 2 over 2 divided lite unit, only 3’-0” in height, roughly one-third the size of the lower sash, which is 2 over 2 over 2, divided lites.

The roof is a gable-end wood rafter roof on a 5/12 pitch. The cornice eaves are a 12-inch frieze board at perimeter. There is no decorative cornice molding.

The house has three brick masonry chimneys that are exposed above the roofline. Two chimneys, visible on the east roof extended 10’-0” above the base of each. The chimneys extend from the existing fireplaces on the Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest rooms on the Main Level.

1838

Lawrason Levering House

“One of the most imposing early examples of Greek-Revival domestic architecture in Springfield was the Lawrason Levering House, which was built in 1838 on the west side of Second Street, north of Edwards, on the site of the present-day Capitol Complex.

Lawrason Levering House on South Second Street

…the Levering mansion was a two-story, side-gabled, brick I-House with a prominent two-story Classical portico supported by Corinthian columns. A second-floor balcony was sheltered within the portico. There was a wide entablature present, and this was continued along the ends of the house in order to form a pediment on each of the gables. The Levering House was demolished in the early twentieth century in order to allow the construction of the Centennial (now Howlett) Building.”

The land where the Lawson Levering house was situated was sold to Levering by Ninian W. Edwards in 1837. Levering was a partner of William Grimsley on the Public Square. Mr. Levering built the original dwelling, a story –and-a-half in 1838 and sold the property to Thomas Yeatman of St. Louis in 1847 for $4,000. Mr. Yeatman sold it to William Pope in 1849. John E. Owsley, a wealthy retired land-owner, bought it in 1856 and enlarged it as shown above, the columns and portico being patterned after his old home in Kentucky.

1839

Illinois State Bank Building

In 1839, a majestic Greek Revival bank building was constructed in the middle of the East Side of the Public Square for use by the Illinois State Bank. It was a perfect complement to the newly constructed State House, its neighbor across Sixth Street. It was called “the most chaste, beautiful and substantial building west of the Allegheny Mountains.”

The Illinois State Bank is a rectangular-massed stone Greek Revival building, one story high and six bays deep. The square corner pilasters provide a bold frame for each facade. The pediment is closed by a full entablature with a raking cornice of similar detail rising to the center ridge.

Illinois State Bank on the East Side of the Public Square

Plate 52 From Minard Lafever’s
The Young Builder’s General Instructor, 1829

A double door centered on the front facade is the single commanding element to this elevation. Eight stone steps lead up to the entry door, which is capped with a full entablature and flanked by Doric pilasters similar to those on the building corners. Each entry door has six horizontal wood panels. There are two identical fixed vertical panels over each door creating a heightened appearance to the entrance and facade.

The symmetrical sides, (north and south) have six bays, each containing windows. The windows are large and give the appearance of there being more window than wall.

Rev. Charles Dresser’s Greek Revival Cottage

In 1839, Rev. Charles Dresser built a Greek Revival cottage at the northeast corner of Eighth and Jackson Streets. The house was built by carpenters John and Page Eaton, newly arrived in Springfield from New Hampshire. In 1844, Dresser sold the house to Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln lived here with his family in this form until 1858, when the cottage was enlarged by adding a full second floor.

Rev. Charles Dresser’s Home Built in 1839

The house is a one and half story frame rectangle with four bays or windows on the eve front with a setback center doorway with sidelights and transom light. The corner boards and entablature were most likely present on the original house as is shown on the drawing and the model.

The windows are double hung six over six with classical surrounds. There are two chimneys, one at each peak of the gable ends. The gable ends have two bays on the first floor and in the pediment there are two small windows allowing light and air to the half story sleeping area.

This style of one and half story modest Greek Revival house was a prevalent style in Lincoln’s Springfield.

John Gardner’s Greek Revival Farm House

The John Gardner house is perhaps the finest Greek Revival farm house in Sangamon County. It is located in Gardner Township at 7369 Route 125, ¼ of a mile west of the intersection with Route 97. It retains many of its Greek Revival features, although it has been sided. The house is remarkably similar to the home of Abraham Lincoln before the second story was raised.

John Gardner House, Section 17, Gardner Township,
Sangamon County, Illinois

The John Gardner house is a one and half story rectangle with four bays or windows on the eve front with a center doorway with sidelights and transom light. The windows are double hung six over six with a classic surround. A wide entablature runs along all four sides. The corner boards or pilasters frame the facades. The porch is modest and is Greek Revival in style with two plain square columns and two pilasters.

The gable ends have two bays (windows) on the first floor and in the pediment there are two small windows allowing light and air to the half story sleeping area. There are two chimneys, one at each peak of the gable ends.

The cut stone foundation has window cuttings for four windows symmetrical with the first floor windows. The windows on the south side of the house are protected with a wooden slatted screen shown above.

Jay Slater’s Greek Revival Farm House

Jay Slater’s Residence, Gardner Township, Sangamon County, Illinois

The Jay Slater house is a classic Greek Revival farmhouse. It is a small neat brick house that still stands just a short distance from Farmington west of Springfield. It was most likely an active station on the underground railroad. The house is a one and half story rectangle with a center pediment at the front (east side) facing the road. There are two bays or windows on the front with a center doorway with sidelights and transom light. The gable ends have two bays on the first floor and in the pediment there are two windows allowing light and air to the second story sleeping area. There are two chimneys, one at each peak of the gable ends.

Jay Slater, a farmer, was born on February 25, 1795, in Massachusetts. He was married on March 12, 1826, in Sangamon County, to Lucretia Carman, who was born in 1806, in New York. Jay Slat¬er was a conductor on the underground railroad.

Davis Meredith’s Greek Revival Farm Residence

The Davis Meredith house is a classic Greek Revival farmhouse, perhaps the most historic still standing in Ball Township. While small and unpretentious, it is a classic adaptation of the Greek Revival style to the country.

Davis Meredith Residence, Ball Township, Sangamon County, Illinois

The house is a one and half story rectangle with the gable front facing the road. There are two bays or windows on the front with a center doorway with sidelights and transom light. The windows have a surround that is classic and 6/6 double sash.

There is a modest porch in Greek Revival style with two plain square columns and matching pilasters. The corner boards frame the façade. In the pediment above the front door there is a large window allowing light and air to the half story sleeping area.

Thomas Strawbridge’s Greek Revival Farm Residence

The Strawbridge-Shepherd Farm Site is located five miles south of downtown Springfield at the southern edge of the University of Illinois at Springfield campus. In 1845 the site was on an open prairie just west of Sugar Creek, now Lake Springfield.

Thomas Strawbridge’s Farm Residence, Woodside Township, Sangamon County, Illinois

In 1845, Thomas Strawbridge built the first phase of the house, what is now the two-story front of the house. It is a simple five-bay structure, two rooms wide and one room deep on each floor separated by a central hall. It is a classic example of a Midwestern broadside, two-story farmhouse with Greek Revival elements. All four rooms contained fireplaces that were framed with walnut mantels. There are two chimneys, one at each peak of the gable ends.

The 1845 house is a braced-frame structure of hand-hewn oak timbers secured with mortise and tenon joints, pinned when in tension and open when in compression. The quality of workmanship is exceptional. The floors are of oak. The lathe is hand-split hickory. The woodwork is walnut with some pine.

1874 Drawing of Thomas Strawbridge, Jr. Farm House

The center front entrance is a handsome recessed door, with a five paned transom above and sidelights. It is neatly framed by unfluted, square, pilasters and fine woodwork in the recess. Originally, there was a Greek Revival small portico supported by flat columns over the entrance door.

A wooden entablature crosses the facade at the roofline and originally returned at the gable ends.

1840

Tinsley Building at Sixth and Adams Streets

The Tinsley Building at the southwest corner of Sixth and Adams Streets was built as a merchant block in the Greek Revival style circa 1840. a symmetrical arrangement of features, a low-pitched roof, and pilaster strips. It is three storys with and attic and has small attic windows set in the wide entablature along roof edge. These are called “Frieze” windows because of their location in the entablature.

The Tinsley Building, erected in 1840, at Sixth and Adams streets, was the first three-story building on the south side of the square and the finest brick business house in central Illinois. ...In 1841 the mercantile firm of S. M. Tinsley & Co., occupied the ground floor. Immediately above was the United States court room in which Lincoln practiced until 1855. Logan & Lincoln moved its office in late 1843, or early 1844, to the third floor, front. Here the firm remained until the dissolution of the partnership in the autumn of 1844, and here began the firm of Lincoln & Herndon.

The corner building, the Hurst & Taylor section, stands today and is a State of Illinois historic site known as the Lincoln Herndon Law Offices.

Drawing of the South Side of the Public Square: Circa 1860

Woodcut of the Tinsley Building,
South Side of the Public Square: June 4, 1850

West of the Tinsley Building stood the store of Yates & Smith. In late January 1861, Lincoln wished to write his inaugural address. The crowds that came to see him at his office made work on the address there difficult. Mr. Smith offered the use of a back room on the third floor above his last store room, an offer which was accepted.

1842

First Methodist Church Annex

In 1842, the First Methodist Church built a wing to its church building. It was a one-story Greek-Revival I-Cottage. In 1852, it was moved to its present location at 605 South Fourth Street by John S. Condell

First Methodist Church Annex Built In 1842

It was a rectangle wooden Greek Revival structure with a center pediment at the eve front (east side). It had a wide entablature on each side. The dwelling has pedimented window hoods, cornice returns, a wide frieze (or entablature) board, and a front porch supported by Corinthian columns. Though predominately Greek Revival in character, the Condell House was influenced by the contemporary Italianate style and has decorative brackets along the cornice.
John Francis Rague’s Greek Revival Cottage

On July 15, 1842, John F. Rague advertised in the Journal “Houses, Lands, Farms and Lots—for sale.” One of the houses is described as a “Grecian Cottage” opposite the Second Presbyterian Church on the east side of Fourth, between Adams and Monroe Streets.

That well built and beautiful Grecian Cottage opposite the 2nd Presbyterian Church, 46 feet square, containing six rooms, a good cellar, garret room, closet, pantries, well-room, inner portico, and portico extending across the entire front and standing on a lot 78 ½ by 160 feet in a beautiful part of the city. A credit of one or two years will be given for one-quarter or one-half of the purchase money if desired.
This little ad tells us a great deal about the Grecian Cottage on South Fourth. The “Cottage” was 46 feet square, the same size as the Elijah Iles House. The use of the word “Grecian” by Rague confirms that the term Greek Revival or variants thereof had become a part of the public vocabulary of Springfield to the extent that it would be used in a newspaper advertisement to sell a “Grecian Cottage.”

The ad also raises questions. Was this Rague’s personal residence? And if so, did he design and construct the Grecian Cottage? When did he purchase the lot? The Lincolns moved from the Globe Tavern to the same block on South Fourth Street in the fall of 184_. Did they move to this Cottage or were they neighbors? Why was Rague selling all of this real estate?

1867 A. Ruter Perspective 1872 Perspective

1843

First Presbyterian Church

In 1843, the First Presbyterian Church built a new building at the southeast corner of Third and Washington Streets. It was one of the finest Greek Revival structures built in Springfield.

The rectangular-massed First Presbyterian Church is a one story, stone, five bays deep, Greek Revival style structure with 20/20 double hung windows and with front gable pediment. It had a partial portico and a pediment supported by two columns and brick pilasters.

First Presbyterian Church, Springfield, Illinois Built in 1843

The square Doric corner pilasters provide a bold frame for each facade. The pediment has a tympanum of _________________________________ and is closed by a full entablature with a raking cornice of similar detail rising to the center ridge.

A double door centered on the front facade is the single commanding element to this elevation. Six stone steps lead up to the entry door, which is capped with a full entablature and flanked by Doric pilasters similar to those on the building corners. Each entry door has four vertil wood panels. There are two identical fixed vertical panels over each door creating a heightened appearance to the entrance and facade. The foundation is constructed of cut slabs of limestone.

The symmetrical sides, (east and west) have five bays, each containing seven foot high, 20/20 double hung, wood sash windows. The simple wood trim surrounds provides focus and emphasis on the window. The top of each window meets the entablature at the eave. The windows are large and give the appearance of there being more window than wall.

The (south) rear facade is a solid wall of clapboard siding. The returns of the open gable meet the tops of the corner pilasters and follow a raking cornice to the gable peak. The trim detail of the raking cornice repeats the front facade pediment.

The belfry, centered over the entrance door, extends above the front gable peak in plane with the front facade and consists of two tiers. First, a square block of horizontal flush board siding and plain corner Doric pilasters, serves as the base for the second tier open belfry. The second tier, stepped back from the square base, is a Queen Anne style belfry. The upper belfry has two open, half-round wood arches per side with round wood cut-out details at the corners of each arch. A vertical wood panel perimeter rail, with three panels at the base of each arch matches the panels of the entrance doors. The green metal pyramid roof of the tower contains a decorative triangular wood dormer on each of the four planes. The insert of the triangular dormer is white painted vertical flush siding. There is a weather vane at the peak of the belfry roof. The building was razed in 1912.

1845

Sangamon County Court House

The Court House was just north of the Illinois State Bank on the southeast corner of Sixth and Washington streets. It faced the Public Square and the State House. Like the State House and the Bank, it was a classic Greek Revival building, being two stories with a portico and a pediment supported by six columns and brick pilasters. Unlike the limestone Bank and sandstone State House, however, the Court House was brick instead of stone, and its Doric columns were of sand-covered hollow wood. In 1877, Sangamon County tore down the Court House and sold the subdivided lot.

A special term of the County Commissioners’ Court was held on Saturday, April 5, 1845, to take into consideration the proposition for the purchase of ground for the erection of a new court house. The County Attorney, Stephen T. Logan, was instructed to purchase lots of James Dunlap and Robert Irwin, on the northeast corner of the square [Sixth and Washington Streets]. …The ground was purchased and a contract entered into with Henry Dresser, on the 11th day of April, 1845, for the construction of the building. ...It was erected according to contract, and occupied until the purchase from the State of the old capital building [in 1876], when the offices were removed.

The Sangamon County Court House and the
Springfield Marine and Fire Insurance Company

East Side of the Public Square: 1860

1846

C. M. Smith Residence at Fifth and Jackson

In 1846, C. M. Smith, the husband of Mary Todd Lincoln’s sister, built a two story frame even front Greek Revival residence at the southwest corner of Fifth and Edwards Streets. It was a rectangle wooden five-bay structure with a center pediment at the front (east side) with two windows in the pediment. It had a wide entablature on each side. The center front entrance is a recessed door, with a three paned transom above and side lights. It is neatly framed by unfluted, square, pilasters and fine woodwork in the recess.

C. M. Smith Residence

1850

First (Central) Baptist Church at Seventh and Adams

In 1846, C. M. Smith, the husband of Mary Todd Lincoln’s sister, built a two story frame even front Greek Revival residence at the southwest corner of Fifth and Edwards Streets. It was a rectangle wooden five-bay

dedicated 1850

1851

Third Presbyterian Church at the Northwest Corner of Sixth and Monroe Streets

We are requested to state that in consequence of a number of persons having expressed a wish to see the inside of the new Third Presbyterian Church, before the dedication, it will be open to the public all day on Monday next, the 28th instant.
In giving the above notice, we cannot refrain from congratulating our friends of the Third Church on the near completion of the elegant and beautiful building with which they have ornamented our city. Although the exterior is yet incomplete, it never fails to arrest the attention of all observers by the beauty and grace of its design, the justness of its proportions, and the excellence of its execution; and it has been generally admired by all who give any attention to architecture.
The design is by Mr. George I. Barnett, of St. Louis, an architect of established reputation, to whom, for this design and that of the State Bank, our city is indebted for two of its chief architectural ornaments. Mr. Barnett has a fine genius for architecture, and has introduced in St. Louis a new and peculiar style which characterizes the ornamental architecture of that place, which he modestly calls. “St. Louis style,” but which others more justly call by the name of its originator. The Third Church is in this style of architecture. The design is entirely original, being Grecian in its general character, while, without belonging strictly to either of the regular orders, it violates no rule of that school of architecture. The design is light, graceful and striking in its general effect, and well adapted to the size and situation of the building.
The structure is novel in its character, being entirely of wood, worked into an imitation of stone, the base representing plain cut stone, and the remainder of the walls representing rustic work. It is to be sanded after the manner of most of the finer class of building in St. Louis. When this is done the imitation of stone will be perfect. The erection of such a building would have been somewhat of a novelty in the great cities, and was quite an undertaking for the young architect of this place who has executed it. It is due to Mr. Thomas J. Dennis, in this notice to say, that he has executed the design throughout in a manner that has called forth the approval and admiration of many competent judges, who have notice the work. This and some other structures of his execution give the best evidence of his devotion to the study of the science of his calling and show that he needs only practice in its higher branches to place him among the best practical architects.
The interior of the church is chiefly from a design my Mr. Barnett. It was intended for the modern plan of finish now general in the cities, by which a fine effect is produced in church architecture, at a very moderate expense. Instead of an elaborate and expensive finish of wooden columns, stucco cornices, &c. as formerly was the custom, when a fine room was desired, it is now the practice to finish the room with a plain coat of common plastering and to imitate the architectural decorations in fresco painting. In the bands of an artist of fine taste and skill, very beautiful effects are produced in this way, and the representation of columns, pilasters, cornices, &c. are so perfect as often to deceive.
Mr. L. D. Pomarade, a noted artist in this line, has just finished the painting of the interior of the church, and has afforded such a beautiful exemplification of his fine taste and execution, which are now giving grace and beauty to many of the public edifices in the great cities. His work excites unusual admiration. Those who are familiar with such things have readily accorded him all due praise, while those of us to whom this kind of effect is new have never failed to express much surprise at the beauty of the work and the perfection of the imitations.
We would be doing injustice to a promising young mechanic if we were to omit to mention the painting of the pulpit, pews, &c. the graining , bronzing, &c. , of which are done in a very creditable style by Mr. John G. Huntington, of this place.
On the whole, we think our city has some right to be proud of its public buildings, and of now more than of this beautiful little church, which we do not much fear to say is one of the prettiest churches of its size in all the country.
1853

First Christian Church at Sixth and Jefferson Streets

The record of February 15, 1852, shows that a committee consisting of Jonathan R. Saunders, Stephen T. Logan, William F. Elkin, William Lavely and Joseph W. Bennett was appointed to make arrangements for a “more suitable house of worship.” A new lot at the northeast corner of Sixth and Jefferson Streets was purchased at a cost of $1,300 and a building 40’ by 60’ erected under the contractorship of Joseph W. Bennett. The building was dedicated in 1853.

In 1853, the Christian Church built a new rectangular-massed one story, brick structure at the northeast corner of Sixth and Jefferson Streets. It was a classic Greek Revival church building with a front gable pediment and square Doric corner pilasters providing a frame for each facade. The pediment had a tympanum of brick and was closed by a full entablature with a raking cornice of similar detail rising to the center ridge.

First Christian Church at the Northeast Corner of
Sixth and Jefferson Streets, Built in 1853

A double door was centered on the front facade. There is a rectangular light above the doors with six lights creating a heightened appearance to the entrance and facade. The foundation is constructed of cut slabs of limestone.
Dentils
Transom

There were two windows on the first floor, one on either side of the center door. There were three windows on the second floor. The simple 6/6 double hung, wood sash windows with wood trim surrounds provided focus and emphasis on the window. The top of each window on the second floor meets the entablature at the eave.

1854

Enterprise Building Built by John Roll

In 1854, the Enterprise Building was constructed by John Roll on the north side of Washington Street just west of Fifth Street. It was a three story five bay brick structure with a cornice of brick dentals. The window hoods are iron with a decorative motif in _______. The building is strikingly similar to the building being built in New York City.

Enterprise Building Built in 1854

1855

State of Illinois Arsenal

In 1855, the State of Illinois built an arsenal on the east side of Fifth Street, between Mason and Carpenter. It was a rectangle brick building with a pediment at the center front (west side) and pilasters at the corners and at the center between bays. It had a wide entablature on each side. The entry was a wide arched opening allowing horses and wagons to enter. The north and south sides had five bays with rectangular sash in the ground level and larger arched windows above.

Illinois State Arsenal Built in 1855

First Methodist (Episcopal) Church
at Southeast Corner of Fifth and Monroe Streets

In 1855, a new church was constructed at the southeast corner of Fifth and Monroe Streets for the First Methodist Episcopal Church. Its original cost was about $10,000. It was a classic Greek Revival brick church building with a front gable pediment and brick pilasters. It originally had a very handsome spire, removed by a strong wind and placed in the yard below.

The square Doric corner pilasters provide a frame for each facade. The pediment at the center front has a tympanum of ____________ and is closed by a full entablature with a raking cornice of similar detail rising to the center ridge.

Methodist (Episcopal) Church at Fifth and Monroe Streets Built in 1855

An entry door centered on the front facade …. is capped with a full entablature and flanked by Doric pilasters similar to those on the building corners. The symmetrical sides, (north and south) have six bays, each containing high windows. The top of each appears to meet the entablature at the eave. The church originally had a steeple that can be seen the drawing below. It was a _____.

Drawing Showing the Steeple of the Methodist (Episcopal) Church at Fifth and Monroe Streets Built in 1855

Portuguese Church at Eighth and Miller Northeast Corner

In 18__, the Portuguese Church built a new brick building at the northeast corner of Eighth and Miller Streets. It was a classic Greek Revival church building with a front gable pediment and square Doric corner pilasters providing a frame for each facade. The pediment has a tympanum of _________ and is closed by a full entablature with a raking cornice of similar detail rising to the center ridge.

A double door centered on the front facade ….

The symmetrical sides, (east and west) have five bays, each containing seven foot high____.

1856

Lincolns Remodel Home

In 1856, the Lincolns added a story to their home. The original first story was built in 1839.

Lincoln Home 1856

First Ward School (Palmer)
Mason, Between 12th and 13th Streets

Palmer School Built In 1856

On April 14, 1856, Springfield’s first public school building, the First Ward School opened. It was located on East Mason, between 12th and 13th Streets and was later known as the Palmer School. The brick building was two stories, the lower with four rooms and the upper included a large hall, two recitation rooms and two smaller rooms suitable for library and apparatus.

…entire building, accommodations for three hundred and twenty four pupils. Cost of ground and improvements, about $12, 000.

As will be noted, it was a plain, rather severe-looking structure, typical of its period, with a paling fence enclosing the grounds. …

Third Ward School (Edwards)
Edwards and Spring Streets

The Third Ward school house [Edwards School], situated on the [northeast] corner of Edwards and Spring streets, occupies a lot measuring three hundred and twenty feet on Edwards, and one hundred and fourteen on Spring street. This building is in all respects after the same pattern as that of the First Ward, and, together with its grounds, cost about the same amount of money.

Third Ward (Edwards) School
Northeast Corner of Spring and Edwards Streets

1857

Peter Cartwright Methodist Church

Peter Cartwright Methodist Church, Pleasant Plains, Illinois

This is the third Peter Cartwright Methodist Church, built in 1857. It is located at 209 West Church Street in Pleasant Plains, Illinois.

North Side of Public Square

North Side of the Public Square Looking East: Circa 1859

In 1857, John Williams built a banking house on the north side of the Public Square. It is shown in the above photograph, the first three-story building from the left.

Banking house of John Williams & Co., north side Square. Size 20 by 80 feet; three stories; with ornamental front, entirely of iron, from the celebrated works of Miles Greenwood, Cincinnati; Sutton & Brother, builders; brick work by Geo. Wise; painting by E. G. Johns. The roof is of iron, known as Outcalt’s elastic, metallic roof being the first of that kind introduced here; it was put on by P. A. Dorwin & Co. This building, when completed, will be highly ornamental, and will attract much attention. Cost 7,000 dollars.

North Side of the Public Square: Circa 1860

North Side of Public Square The Eagle Block or Carpenter’s Building at the Northwest Corner
of Sixth and Washington Streets Circa 1870s

A brick block on corner of Washington and Sixth streets, on the north side of the square; size 37 feet on Washington, and 88 feet on Sixth street, better known as the Eagle block, named from the profusion of bronzed eagles which adorn the two fronts, and give it quite an American appearance. The main front on Washington street is divided into two store rooms; the front shutters are on the improved plan of sliding; the first story in front is of iron; the window caps and sills are of iron; roof of tin; the second floor is designed for offices; the third for a public hall. It is a fine, substantial building, an ornament to our city, and a credit to both owner and builder. Owned by William Carpenter; designed by Warwick; Warwick & Ball builders, brick work by Millington & Dewey; painting by Pease & Webb.

West Side of the Public Square

West Side of the Public Square: Circa 1860

The two-story buildings to the left are thought to be typical of the pre-1850’s buildings on the Public Square. They survived the fire of 1852. The three-story buildings to the right were built after the fire of 1855.

North End of Fifth Street on Public Square, 1870’s Photograph

Northwest Corner of Fifth and Washington

This photograph shows the northwest corner of Fifth and Washington Streets, known in the 19th century as Freeman’s Corner.

“Never before in the annuals of our city were there such manifestations of progress and improvement as during the present season [1855]. ..Messrs. Freeman on the North West corner, are building a three story brick, twenty feet front by ninety feet deep. The improvement will add very materially the appearance of that corner.”

Northeast Corner of Fifth and Monroe

GREEK REVIVAL STRUCTURES IN SPRINGFIELD

Residential
Elijah Iles House, 1837 John Francis Rague (?)
Lawson Leavering House, 1838
Rev. Charles Dresser Cottage, 1839
John Francis Rague’s Grecian Cottage, circa 1840. John Francis Rague (?)
Strawbridge Shepherd House, 1840
Davis Meredith House
John Gardner House
Jay Slater House

Governmental
Illinois State House, 1837 John Francis Rague
Sangamon County Court House, 1845
Illinois State Arsenal, 1855
First and Third Ward Schools, 1856

Commercial
American House, 1837
Illinois State Bank, 1839 John Francis Rague (?)
Tinsley Building, 1841
Enterprise Building, 1854

Religious
Second Presbyterian Church, 1839
First Presbyterian Church, 1843
Third Presbyterian Church, 1851 George I. Barnett, St. Louis
First Christian Church, 1853
Methodist Episcopal Church, 1855
Portuguese Church
ELEMENTS OF GREEK REVIVAL ARCHITECTURE

The identifying elements of Greek Revival architecture were:

• emphasis on straight line and symmetry
• 1 1/2 or 2 1/2 storys
• medium or steeply pitched gable roof or hip roof
• often featuring central pedimented porch [portico]
• center door accented by rectangular transom and sidelights
• Gable front design, where the house is placed on short-side facing street and the door is off center because of narrow width of plan. Popular for narrow street frontages favoured by developing towns and cities.
• decorative classical features include dentils, return eaves, pilasters, flat or pedimented hoods over windows

Gable Front: pediment, temple-fronted buildings and entry facing the street and usually supported by columns or pilasters. The State Bank shown to the right is an example of a gable front.

Elements:

1. as a classical temple front with triangular pediment and columns (some examples have wings on either side of the central section);
2. set off with a triangular pediment and corner pilasters;
3. emphasized with cornice returns and corner pilasters.
Eve Front: the eaves face the street and they are finished with a cornice. The gable side is embellished with a cornice return. The Elijah Iles House shown to the right is an example of an eve front.

Chimneys: usually thin and plain; not a prominent design aspect.

Color: entirely painted white in an attempt to resemble the marble exterior of the originals Greek marble temples.

Columns: freestanding or applied to the façade--pilasters.

Entablature: wide and heavier than the Federal but has the same three components:

1. architrave at the top (seen here with dentil molding);

2. frieze section in the middle;

3. cornice at the bottom (seen here on top of the column with Ionic capital); a wide band of trim often with dentils.

Entry Door: doorways usually have rectangular transoms and sidelights. (never rounded like federal)

Porch: can run the width or the height of the structure with square or rounded columns (usually Doric).

Roof: hipped or gable, low-pitched; lower than in earlier years; roof height is also minimized by a parapet at the eaves or a flattened deck at the ridge.
Windows: large, double–hung multi-paned, like this 6/6 (six over six) example.

Window openings set in masonry are marked by emphatic lintels, sometimes with carved keystones. Wooden window surrounds are heavily molded and may also emphasize a corner block or a heavy pediment.

Attic windows may be in the triangular pediment as shown below.

Side-gabled, one-and-a-half storied examples often have small windows set in the wide entablature along roof edge. These ARE CALLED “FRIEZE” WINDOWS BECAUSE OF THEIR LOCATION IN THE ENTABLATURE. [THEY ARE ALSO INCORRECTLY REFERRED TO AS “EYEBROW” WINDOWS,]

The use of ornament is not common and in those cases where it is present, it is exclusively Classical in style. Greek orders are modified to accord with American taste and carpenter skill ñ free rather than mechanical interpretations of their prototypes. Dormers are not usual.
Greek Revival Style: 1820s to 1850sThe Greek Revival is often considered the first truly American style. Earlier styles were inspired by English building fashions and frequently built from English pattern books. The Greek Revival style arose out of a young nation’s desire to identify with the ideals of the ancient Greek Republic. Inspired by the architecture of ancient Greece, buildings in this style are patterned after Greek temples. The triangular gable end which, usually faces the street, is analogous to the temple pediment, while the flat horizontal board which runs along the length of the gable represents the classical entablature
Greek Revival in America: From Tara to farmhouse temples. By James C. Massey and Shirley Maxwell
Americans of the early 19th century saw several good reasons for adapting at least some aspects of Greek classicism to their own houses, churches, and public buildings. For starters, Greece’s struggle for independence from Turkey was at its height in the 1820s, reminding Americans of their own hard-won sovereignty. Greece, the world’s first democracy, seemed an appropriate philosophical reference point for a self-confident new republic. Plus, with its air of antiquity, Greek Revival architecture brought a sense of permanence and solidity to the spanking-new American landscape. It’s very austerity proclaimed the sturdy self-reliance of a nation that was pushing westward with all its might, conquering new frontiers at the same time it was trying to establish its cultural credentials with the Old World.
Not that Americans were interested in re-creating an archeologically “pure” form of Greek architecture. While they admired the austere beauty of Greece’s post-and-lintel buildings, their practical minds insisted on buildings that used 19th-century technology and accommodated 19th-century lifestyles. They were in search of a “National Style” of architecture reflecting their own time and place—one that would represent America’s abundance and energy as well as its political and cultural ideals. They wanted a style that betokened a glorious future as well as a glorious past. The Greek example, properly modified, seemed to fit their needs.
Although the details varied from region to region and from one economic stratum to another, the general characteristics of this new-old style include simplicity, as well as an emphatic rectilinear geometry and insistent symmetry of form.
In the South, the two-storey portico (which might be called the “Tara” model) was often used even on rather small houses. At the other end of the spectrum was the charming, small temple-form house in 1 or 1 1/2 storey’s, basically a cottage hiding behind a pedimented porch with columns. In New England, Upstate New York, and the Northwest Territory (Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois, which were just then being settled by a wave of New Englanders), the most common form was a blocky farmhouse, often sans porch and full columns but with handsome pilasters or attached square columns at the corners of a pedimented gable front.
The style evolved over time as well as across geographic areas, settlement patterns, and economic strata. First, in the 1820s and 1830s, came the rich man’s high-style Greek Revival “temple” with its impressive four-columned two-storey portico and prominent pediment. Then, as the middle class picked up the idea in the 1830s and 1840s, the portico was scaled down. It became a porch, with plain columns or square posts and a simplified pediment. This economy version might have four columns and three bays stretching across the entire front of the house, or it might have only a single bay at the entrance. It was more often one storey high than two storeys. In freestanding houses, the temple form required a gable front, but practicality or preference very often called for end gables instead, with the entrance on a long side. Either way, the pediment might be formed by a full-length frieze or it might be merely suggested by bold cornice returns that extended only part way in from the corners.
Roof pitches, which had been flattening noticeably from the colonial through the federal period, became even flatter with the advent of the Greek Revival style. In fact, some roofs seemed to have no slope at all, because they were hidden behind straight parapets and balustrades, paneled or ornamented with upstanding palmettes. Other buildings had broad gables and heavy full or partial cornice returns, representing the classical Greek temple form. The cornice might display a row of tooth-like dentil moulding.
The most familiar characteristic of the Greek Revival roofline, however, was a deep frieze, often undecorated except perhaps for a row of the distinctive Greek triglyph and metope ornament. This was usually enough for all but the most fashionable mansions. Even simpler dwellings might have nothing beyond a wide board frieze, minus dentils, triglyphs, or metopes, to suggest their Greek connections.
Windows became much larger in the Greek Revival period, as factory-made glass, transported to growing towns and prosperous farms by rail or canal, became easier to come by. Tall six-over-six double-hung windows brought light to graciously proportioned interiors with high ceilings. Sometimes the windows extended from near the ceiling to the floor, making it possible to step through to the porch beyond. Floor plans featured center or side halls.
Although Greek-derived wooden ornament was generally simple in form, the intricate decorative ironwork of the period was another story altogether. Magnificent cast- or wrought-iron designs appeared on fences, balconies, and roof-top acroteria, providing a fanciful finishing touch for the rather stiff architecture. As the Industrial Revolution matured and foundry technology improved, cast iron almost entirely replaced the earlier wrought iron.
By 1850 railroads and canals carried machine-made wooden ornament to even remote outposts, doing away with much of the painstaking handwork once required for fluted column shafts, elaborate capitals, and other ornament. Generally, ornate Corinthian column capitals of the Georgian era were seen less frequently than simpler Ionic scrolled capitals and plain Doric columns, fluted or unfluted, without platforms, or bases. Rectangular transoms above the doorways were more common than semi-elliptical fanlights in Greek Revival houses, and while fancy tracery in wood or iron often appeared in transoms or sidelights, these were more often undecorated rectangles. Flat, wide trim surrounded doors and windows. Molded panels were often set into the walls below windows, both inside and outside the house.

Decline of Greek Revival Style

The Greek Revival was, as its early proponents claimed, America’s first truly national style, and it dominated the era of Manifest Destiny. It easily outdistanced the picturesque Gothic Revival, its closest competitor in the early 19th-century “War of the Styles.” A very different kind of conflict brought an end to the elegance of the Greek Revival period, however. After the Civil War, Victorian eclecticism reigned on the home front. In a fast-moving industrialized country, the stark symmetry of the Greek Revival house seemed hopelessly stiff and even boring. Although the style kept its appeal for public buildings and churches, Greek Revival houses soon became relics of a simpler time, the time Before the War.

2007-03-19T05:02:00.000-06:00

LINCOLN’S SPRINGFIELD:

1839

Richard E. Hart

JANUARY

John S. Roberts Appointed Postmaster
On January 1, 1839, John S. Roberts was appointed postmaster at Springfield.
Birth of Edgar W. Ruckel
On January 22, 1839, Daniel E. and Catharine V. G. Forbes Ruckel had a son, Edgar W.[1]
Col. Lehmanowsky Preaches at First Presbyterian Church
On January __, 1830, Col. Lehmanowsky, formerly an officer in Napoleon’s army, preached an “original, ingenious and eloquent sermon” in the First Presbyterian Church. He announced a series of lectures on the life of Napoleon.[2]
FEBRUARY

Sangamon County Boundaries Reduced
On February 15, 1839, the counties of Menard, Logan and Dane (the latter name since changed to Christian) were established, and Sangamon was reduced to its present boundaries. The original 4,800 square miles now became about 875 square miles.[3]

However, in clinching her hold on the capital, Springfield had to take a dose of bitter medicine in the loss of county territory. It was inevitable, of course, that the huge area with which Sangamon County was originally endowed would be speedily curtailed as settlement progressed, but by 1825, after the present counties of Morgan, Scott and Cass had been cut from her western limits and most of the territory bordering on the Illinois River had been severed, her people hoped that her limits would remain unmodified. But in the years which followed, agitation for further division gained momentum. Residents living near the boundaries complained that it took two days, and often longer, to travel to Springfield and return to their homes; and proprietors of town sites which aspired to be county seats abetted their discontent. Springfield protested, tried to send to the legislature men who were pledged against county division. By 1838, however, the movement was too strong to be resisted, and the session of that year saw the creation of Menard and Logan to the north and Dane, now Christian, to the south. Springfield made a wry face, but finally took consolation in the fact that the limits of Sangamon County, though curtailed, were still extensive enough to permit her to be called the Empire County.[4]
The Illinois Mutual Fire Insurance Company Organized
On February 23, 1839, The Illinois Mutual Fire Insurance Company became incorporated with John Francis Rague as one of the directors.[5]
Sangamon County Delegates To Annual Meeting of Illinois Anti-Slavery Society
On February 26, 1839, The Genius of Universal Emancipation[6], an abolitionist newspaper published at Hennepin, Illinois, reported that the Sangamon County delegates to the Illinois Anti-Slavery Society annual meeting were:

Thomas Galt[7]
L. N. Ransom Luther N. Ransom
E. Wright Erastus Wright
J. W. Little
John Lyman[8]

Birth of Matilda B. Beach
Richard H. and Eliza H. Baldwin Beach had a daughter, Catharine E., in 1835. [9]
SPRING

Arrival of Adam Johnston

Adam Johnston, born on April 14, 1816, in Glasgow, Scotland. When he was four days old his parents embarked on board a vessel, and after a short stat at Belfast, Ireland, sailed for America, landing during the summer of that year in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was brought up in that city and learned the business of a marble mason. During that time he assisted in building Girard College. He went in 1837, to Jefferson City, Missouri, and after filling a contract on the State House, then in course of construction there, he came to Springfield, in the spring of 1839, and worked as a journeyman on the State House of Illinois. Mr. Johnson was married on July 3, 1846 to Barbara A. Wolgamot. He has been continuously and successfully in business in Springfield, nearly thirty-eight years. Adam Johnson and wife now—December 1876—reside in Springfield, Illinois.[10]

MARCH

Springfield Academy Established and Opens on South Fourth Street

In 1839, the Springfield Academy, newly incorporated, opened in a new building on South Fourth Street.[11]

“…a joint stock company was organized, and an act to incorporate the Springfield Academy was approved March 1, 1839. In accordance with that act, the following named constituted the first Board of Trustees: Washington Iles, F. Webster, Jr., S. T. Logan, John F. Rague, N. H. Ridgely, Robert Allen and Charles R. Matheny.

Under the auspices of this association, the Academy building was erected. Messrs. Town and Sill opened a school in this building before it was fully completed. They did not remain long, however, but were succeeded in the fall of 1840 by Rev. J. F. Brooks. For two years the school was open to both sexes, and then for a few months, until Mr. Brooks’ connection with it ceased, only to females. From the spring of 1843 until the fall of 1853, this school was exclusively for females; first under the charge of Mr. Allard, and then of Mr. Kimball. In 1844, Rev. Francis Springer took control of the school, on his own responsibility. He continued in charge until 1847, when he was succeeded by A. W. Estabrook. In the meantime, in the fall of 1844, Mr. Brooks had established a school for young ladies, at his own residence on south Fifth street.[12]

For fifteen years (1839-1854) this institution (Springfield Academy), together with the Springfield Female Seminary which the Rev. J. F. Brooks conducted, and the Mechanic's Institute, bore the brunt of the educational burden, although there were always a number of smaller schools.
Jabez Capps Candidate for Logan County Recorder of Deeds
The March 30, 1839 Journal reported that Jabez Capps was a candidate for the Logan County Recorder’s office.[13]
Simeon Francis vs. Heirs of Edward Mitchell

Lincoln writes report, which Baker signs, in Simeon Francis vs. Heirs of Edward Mitchell. Mitchell, a late postmaster of Springfield, failed to give deed to lot.[14]

Benjamin Talbott Candidate for Recorder of Deeds

The March 23, 1839 Journal reported that Benjamin Talbott was a candidate for Sangamon County Recorder of Deeds.[15]

Marriage of David G. Council and Mary J. Donaldson

On March 28, 1839, David G. Council married Mary J. Donaldson.[16]

Philo Beers Candidate for Recorder of Deeds

The March 30, 1839 Journal reported that Philo Beers was a candidate for Sangamon County Recorder of Deeds.[17]

Birth of Lucy E. Willard
Alexander and Louisa L. Higgie Willard had a daughter, Lucy E., in March 1839.[18]

Moreau J. and Jefferson Phillips Receive Contract to Provide Sand For Capitol
March in 1839, Moreau and Jefferson Phillips received the contract for sand previously held by David Curtright. They agreed under bond to deliver 2,000 bushels “of clear River-Washed Sand” for 6c per bushel.[19]

APRIL

Jabez Capps Elected Logan County Recorder of Deeds
The April 5, 1839 Journal reported that Jabez Capps had been elected Logan County Recorder of Deeds.[20]

John Capps Issued Tavern License

The April 12, 1839 Journal reported that John Capps had been issued a tavern license.[21]

Reverend Charles Dresser Purchases Lot at Eighth and Jackson Streets
On April 23, 1839, Dresser purchased a lot at Eighth and Jackson Streets from Dr. Gershom Jayne and his wife, Sybil.[22]

John Dryer Candidate for Constable

The April 26, 1839 Journal reported that John Dryer was a candidate for constable.[23]

Arrival of Reuben F. Ruth

Reuben F. Ruth, born on August 6, 1815, in Wrightsville, York County, Pennsylvania, came to Springfield in April 1839, and engaged in the business of a saddle and harness maker.[24]

Reorganization Of Sangamon County Colonization Society

On April 8, 1839, Jared Irwin made the following entry in his diary concerning his attendance at a meeting of the Sangamon County Colonization Society, which was reorganized at the same time.[25]

April 8. This evening heard with pleasure Porter Clay Esq. (Bro. of the Hon. H. Clay) deliver his first lecture in behalf of the “Colonization Society”, he was recently been appointed agt. of the “great valley” & has this evening commenced upon the duties of his mission, intending to lecture & form Societies throughout the length & bredth of the Valley. He is quite eloquent.‑May success attend him.

Wood River Colored Baptist Association Formed
On April 29, 1839, representatives of Illinois Black Baptist Churches met in the home of Samuel Vincent of Alton to form the Wood River Colored Baptist Association.

Arrival of Oliver and Rachel Smith Hillman and Family

Oliver and Rachel Smith Hillman had six children in Philadelphia and New Jersey, and moved with a part of their family to Springfield Illinois, arriving in April, 1839.[26] Oliver Hillman was born on May 10, 1785 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[27] On July 23, 1807, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Oliver Hillman married Rachel Smith, who was born in Salem County, New Jersey. They had six children in Philadelphia and New Jersey.[28] Oliver and Rachel Hillman had a son, John Smith who was born in Philadelphia on November 29, 1809.[29] John Smith Hillman was married three times in Philadelphia and all his wives and three children died there. John Smith Hillman came to Sangamon County, Illinois, in 1839 or '40, and settled in Cotton Hill Township, east of New City.[30]
MAY

Marriage of Dr. William S. Wallace and Frances Todd

On May 21, 1839, Dr. William Wallace married Frances Todd, the sister of Mary Todd.[31]
Arrival of John Jr. and Page Eaton

In May 1839, John and Page Eaton traveled from Paris, Edgar County, Illinois to Springfield. Page was born on October 25, 1821, in Concord, New Hampshire, to John Jr. and Mary Cook Eaton.[32]

Springer, Rev. Francis Mary (Md.)(46).
residence. Mary E. (Md.)(22).
school commissioner. Ida T. M. (Ill.)(18).
Superintendent of City Public
Schools.(Lutheran minister). John G. (Ill.)(16).
1860 C.D.: same. Charles W. (Ill.)(14).
1860 census, p. 143 (Penn.)(50).
Francis K. (Ill.)(12).
$11,100/$500. Laura L. (Ill.)(10).
Came to Springfield in May 1839.
Annie G. (Ill.)(2).

Power, p. 675: Springer, Rev. Francis, D.D., was born March 19, 1810, at Roxburry, Franklin county, Pa. When a young man, he learned the business of sign and ornamental painting. He received his literary education in Pennsylvania College, and his theological studies were pursued at the Theological Seminary of the Lutheran church, both located at Gettysburg, Pa. He also studied under two distinguished ministers, one at Ostego, and the other at Schohaire, N.Y. He paid his expenses by occasionally working at his trade, and teaching school. he was licensed to preach by the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Maryland, Oct. 18, 1836, and was ordained by the same body Oct. 17, 1837. He was married April 11, 1837, to Mary Kreigh, at Clear Springs, Washington county, Md. She was born Feb. 28, 1815, in that county. He taught school and preached in that vicinity from October 1836, for about two and a half years. They had one child in Maryland, and moved to Springfield, Illinois, arriving May, 1839, where four children were born. In 1847 he moved to Hillsboro, Ill,. where they had two children, and in 1855 moved back to Springfield, where they had one child.
Angle, Here I Have Lived, p. 198:
After occasional preaching by itinerant ministers, the Lutherans of the town had organized in 1841 under the leadership of the Rev. Francis Springer.
At:
Springer, Phillip M.
student at Francis Springer's.
natural history and collecting drawings and
water colors.
1860 census, p. 144 (Ill.)(20).
-0-
Power, p. 676: Phil. M., born July 15, 1840, in Springfield, is unmarried, and is of the firm of Springer Bros., stock breeders, in the southeast corner of Clear Lake township, Sangamon county. Their address is Springfield. Phil. M. Springer is Treasurer and Assistant Secretary of the American Berkshire Association. Office in Springfield, Ill.

1881 History, p. 718:

Reverend Charles Dresser Builds House at Eighth and Jackson Streets

In May 1839, John and Page Eaton commenced construction of a residence on the corner of Eighth and Jackson Streets for the Reverend Charles Dresser.[33] If the house was completed prior to August 25 of the following year, Rhoda, his indentured servant, would have lived in this house.

Residence of Rev. Charles Dresser Built by John and Page Eaton in 1839[34] (Drawing)

Arrival of John H. and Elizabeth Hummell Merriweather and Two Children

John H. Merriweather, born on July 2, 1808, in Baltimore County, Maryland, migrated to the vicinity of Springfield, Clark County, Ohio, and married there in 1834 to Elizabeth Hummell. They had two children there, and came to Springfield, arriving in May 1839.[35] Their two children arriving with them were: Elizabeth H., born in 1836 near Springfield, Ohio, and William H., born on April 28, 1838, in Clark County, Ohio. John H. Merriweather was a merchant.
GET MORRE LATER
JUNE

Arrival Of Mary Todd

In early June of 1839, Mary Todd, age 25,[36] arrived in Springfield from Lexington, Kentucky, and took up residence with her sister, Elizabeth, age 23, and brother-in-law, Ninian Wirt Edwards, age 30.[37] Springfield would be Mary’s home for the next 22 years.

Hepsey, the mulatto servant who was indentured to Edwards in 1835, would have been a part of the Ninian Edwards household at this time. In addition, the 1840 census taken the following year lists one male “Slave”, age 10 to 24, and one Free Colored female, age 10 to 24. The latter may have been Hepsey.

Next door in the household of Lawrason Levering, the 1840 census shows that there was one Free Colored male, age 10 to 24.

In the autumn of 1839 Mary Todd arrived in Springfield to make her home with her sister, Mrs. Ninian W. Edwards. At about the same time Mercy Levering came on from Baltimore for an extended visit with her brother Lawrason and his family. The Leverings and the Edwardses lived adjacent to each other, and the two girls soon became firm friends.[38]

William P. Grimsley Member of Premium Committee of Sangamon County Agricultural Society
The June 14, 1839 Journal reported that William P. Grimsley was a member of the premium committee of the Sangamon County Agricultural Society.[39]

Meeting Of Sangamon County Colonization Society CommitteeTo Plan July 4th Events

On June 14, 1839, a committee of the Sangamon County Colonization Society helped plan the July 4th celebration.[40]

FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION

On Friday, the 14th inst., a meeting was convened at the Court Room, to consider and adopt measures for the celebration of the coming Anniversary of American Independence. Present---...
From the Colonization Society--M. Helm, [41] F. A. McNiell,[42] J. C. Doremus, [43] C. Birchall GET INFORMATION ON HIM, B. S. Clement. [44]

...M. Helm, Chairman

Benjamin H. Lockwood Sues William H. Wernwag For Work Done on Sangamon River Bridge.
On June 20, 1839, Lincoln wrote and filed a declaration on behalf of Benjamin H. Lockwood against William H. Wernwag. Lockwood sought to collect $104.38 for work done on the Sangamon River bridge.[45]

City Elections-June 24, 1839

Peleg C. Canedy President of Town Trustees

In 1839, Peleg C. Canedy was President of the Town Trustees.

Town Trustees

The Town Trustees for the year 1839 were:

Samuel H. Treat
Joseph Whitney
Abraham Lincoln
Joseph Klein
Peleg C. Canedy
Philip C. Latham

Abraham Lincoln Elected Town Trustee
On June 24, 1839, Abraham Lincoln was elected to succeed S. H. Treat on the Town Board.[46]

On June 24, 1839, Lincoln was elected a trustee of the town. He served until April 1840, when Springfield began to operate under a new city charter, which he helped to obtain from the Legislature.[47]
JULY

State Offices Moved To Springfield
Although Springfield was designated the state capital on February 28, 1837, the state offices were not moved from Vandalia to Springfield until July of 1839.[48]

June 20, 1839, Gov. Thomas Carlin issued a proclamation ordering the state officers to remove from Vandalia to Springfield. The Board of State House Commissioners, he recited, had notified him that suitable rooms were ready. By the terms of the proclamation the removal was to be completed by July 4th.[49]

Arrival of Enoch Moore

Enoch Moore was born on March 26, 1802 near Waterloo, in what was then St. Clair County but is now Monroe County. He married near Waterloo on September 10, 1833 to Charlotte Sherman, who was born on August 10, 1804, in one of the eastern states. They had three children, two of whom died in infancy: Hester A., born on November 1, 1834. Charlotte Moore died on April 2, 1839 at Vandalia, and Enoch was married near Richmond, Kentucky on March 31, 1845, to Matilda Wakefield, a native of Massachusetts.

Enoch Moore lived in Alton a short time after his first marriage, them moved to Vandalia, where he was employed as clerk in the office of the State Treasurer. When the records were removed to Springfield in 1839, he came with them and was engaged principally in the Fund Commissioner’s office, through all the changes of administration. His strict integrity, feigned conscientiousness, humility and consistent christian deportment, was so apparent that no political partisan ever felt justified in displacing him, and he continued to the end of his life in connection with some one of the State offices. His careful methodical business habits led to the detection of the spurious indebtedness issued in the name of the Fund Commissioners, to the amount of hundreds and thousands of dollars, many years after it took place. He also discovered the fraudulent re-issue of canal bonds by Governor Matteson.

Enoch Moore will be remembered by all who visited the State House during the thirty-six years he spent there, by his stature. He was but four feet two inches high, yet his body was so fully developed that in a sitting posture he looked quite as large as the average of mankind. His weight was about one hundred and seventy pounds when in ordinary health. The deficiency was in the length of his lower limbs.[50]

Arrival of James M. and Sarah C. Sawyer Morse and Family

James M. Morse, born on February 4, 1807, in Newburyport, Massachusetts, was married on April 7, 1831, in West Newbury to Sarah C. Sawyer, who was born there, on November 25, 1807. They moved in 1831 to Vandalia, Illinois where they had three children. Mr. Morse was employed in the office of the Secretary of State, and when the State government was removed to Springfield in July 1839, he came with it.

When the seat of government was moved from Vandalia to Springfield, James M. Morse came with A. P. Fields, Secretary of State, in whose department he was employed. They were accompanied by Levi Davis, Auditor of Public Accounts, with his clerk, William S. Prentice, John D. Whitesides, State Treasurer, and Enoch Moore, his clerk; William Walter, Public Printer, and Charles H. Lanphier, his assistant.[51]

July 4th Celebration

On July 4, 1839, there was a Fourth of July parade, of which Lincoln was assistant marshal, ending at the State House where James C. Conkling delivered a speech. At noon 100 gathered at the Globe Tavern for dinner. Dr. E. H. Meryman, Simeon Francis, Dr. F. A. McNeil, Milton Hay, Edward D. Baker and others gave toasts.[52]

Benjamin Talbott toast Athens Jy. 4 celeb, Jy. 12/39-2:6;

Meeting of Town Board

On July 11, 1839, the Town Board met and Abraham Lincoln and Peleg C. Canedy were appointed as a committee to report on the proper width of side walks on Fourth Street.[53]

Arrival of Rev. William Swain Prentice
William Swain Prentice, born on May 21, 1819, in St. Clair County, Illinois, moved with his father to Hillsboro in 1827, and in 1829 to Shelby County, Illinois. In 1836 his brother, Col. Charles Prentice, who was Register of the Land Office at Vandalia, employed him. After the death of his brother Charles in 1837, he was employed as chief clerk in the office of the Auditor of Public Accounts, and removed with the seat of government of the State of Illinois from Vandalia to Springfield, in 1839.[54]
AUGUST

August 5, 1839 Elections

On August 5, 1839, elections were held for probate judge, treasurer, surveyor, county clerk and county commissioner. Abraham Lincoln voted for the Whig ticket: A. L. Wilson against James Adams for probate judge, James M. Bradford for treasurer, Thomas M. Neale for Surveyor, Charles R. Matheny for county clerk, and William G. Cantrall for county commissioner. All were elected but Wilson and Cantrall.[55]

Philo Beers Defeated in Election for Recorder of Deeds

The August 9, 1839 Journal reported that Philo Beers had been defeated in the election for Sangamon County Recorder of Deeds.[56]

Dr. D. C. Gooden’s Advertisement: Register, August 10,1839[57]

Dr. F. A. McNeil and M. Helm’s Advertisement: Register, August 10,1839[58]

Arrival of Isaac C. and Mercy Coburn Bancroft and Son

Isaac Bancroft, born April 29, 1776, near Boston, Massachusetts, and Mercy Coburn, born March 12, 1781, in Massachusetts, arrived in Springfield on August 10, 1839. They were married on March 5, 1799, and had two children in Massachusetts. They moved to St. Lawrence County, New York, where they had ten children.[59] Their son, Timothy, born on February 26, 1819, in St. Lawrence County, New York, came with them.
Daniel ragsdale’s Advertisement for Boarding House: Register, October 28, 1839[60]

Fifty Dollar Reward For Runaway Slave: Register, August 10,1839[61]

SEPTEMBER

Death Of Benjamin Lundy
The September 6, 1839 edition of the Register reported the following:

DIED--In Hennepin, in this State, a few days since, Mr. BENJAMIN LUNDY, the well known editor of a late publication called “The Genius of Universal Emancipation.[62]

Philo Beers Delegate to Whig State Convention

The September 20, 1839 Journal reported that Philo Beers was a delegate to the Whig State Convention.[63]
A. Lindsay & Brother’s Advertisement: Register, September 28, 1839[64]

The Springfield Academy Opens in Two-Story Brick Building on South Fourth Street

By the 28th of September in 1839, (The Springfield Academy) opened in a new two-story brick building on South Fourth Street where boys could receive an outstanding high school education.[65]
Springfield Academy’s Advertisement: Register, October 28, 1839[66]
Daniel ragsdale’s Advertisement for Boarding House: Register, October 28, 1839[67]
Birth of David W. Harrower

On September 29, 1839, William and Janette Blacklock Harrower had a son, David W.[68]
Simpson, Samuel P. (C.)(M.A.) Edwin (N.J.)(24).
residence. Carpenter
carpenter. $800/0.
1855-56 C.D.: near College Elizabeth (N.J.)(22).
1860 C.D.: Charles H. & Edwin-71 Jackson, C. H. (m)(Ill.)(19).
between Spring & College. Agusta (f)(Ill.)(14).
1860 census, p. 504 (N.J.)(54).
0/$100.
Came to Sangamon county in the fall of 1839.

1881 History, p. 720: Soon after coming to Springfield, he (James C. Sutton) entered into partnership with a brother-in-law, Samuel Simpson, and began building by contract; and as no money was to be had for work, they made some novel trades. On one occasion they received as pay a lot of rolls from the carding machine; on another a $25 clock and one hundred head of geese.

OCTOBER

Presidential Campaign Begins In IllinoisState Conventions Held In Springfield

Although the candidates - William Henry Harrison and Martin van Buren - were not yet nominated, the campaign began in Illinois in October, 1839, when both parties held their state conventions in Springfield. From the beginning, orgies of speech-making characterized it. One of the first took place in mid-November in the court room at Springfield. Cyrus Walker of Macomb, a Whig elector, started off in the afternoon, and Douglas for the Democrats followed. Lincoln, another electoral candidate, spoke in the evening. The next night, Douglas spoke again, and Lincoln followed. On the third evening Edmund Wiley held forth for the Democrats and E.D. Baker concluded for the Whigs.[69]

Daniel ragsdale’s Advertisement for Boarding House: Register, October 28, 1839[70]

Birth of Harriet S. Way
On October 7, 1839, John and Ann St Clair Way had a daughter, Harriet S.[71]

Daniel ragsdale’s Advertisement for Boarding House: Register, October 28, 1839[72]

Dr. James R. Gray Elected Manager of Sangamon County Colonization Society

The October 18, 1839 Journal reported that Dr. James R. Gray had been elected Manager of the Sangamon County Colonization Society.[73]
Journal, chmn. Spfd. Citz mtg., Jy28-2:2;

Mordecai Mobley Defendant in Supreme Court For Matheny’s Restoration
The October 25, 1839 Journal reports that Mordecai Mobley was a defendant in the Supreme Court suit for Matheny’s restoration as clerk.[74]

American House Registrations
In one week in October, 158 persons registered at the American House.[75]

Register, October 12,1839, p. 3
Daniel ragsdale’s Advertisement for Boarding House: Register, October 28, 1839[76]

First Whig State Convention Meets At Springfield
On October 7, 1839, the first Whig State Convention met in Springfield. Abraham Lincoln was not a delegate, but was one of its leaders. The day was devoted to the selection of committee and working up enthusiasm for William Henry Harrison as party choice in the coming presidential election.[77]

On October 8, 1839, the Whig convention continued until late afternoon. Lincoln was chosen presidential elector with Cyrus Walker, B. S. Morris, Samuel D. Marshall and E. B. Webb. Lincoln was appointed to the state central committee with Dr. A. G. Henry, R. F. Barrett, E. D. Baker, and Joshua F. Speed. “These men…,” commented the Register, “were appointed exclusively with reference to their supposed stumping abilities.”[78]

Death of Charles R. Matheny
On October 10, 1839, Charles R. Matheny, President of the Board of Trustees of Springfield, died.[79]

Town’s Board of Trustees Memorializes Charles R. Matheny
On October 14, 1839, the Trustees of the Town of Springfield met and resolved: “That in the death of C. R. Matheny…the town lost an estimable and useful public citizen.”[80]

First Annual Meeting Of The Sangamon County Colonization Society
At First Methodist Chapel

First Methodist Church Chapel

In October of 1839, the first annual meeting of the Sangamon County Colonization Society was held at the Methodist Chapel at the southeast corner of Fifth and Monroe Streets.[81]

GET INFORMATION ON REV. J.T. MITCHELL--FIRST METHODIST CHURCH RECORDS.
COLONIZATION MEETING

Proceedings of the first annual meeting of the Sangamon County Colonization Society

The Society convened according to notice at the Methodist Chapel, and in the absence of the President, one of the Vice Presidents, Rev. John G. Bergen, took the chair, by whom the meeting was opened with a deeply impressive prayer.

John C. Doremus, from the committee previously appointed to prepare the Society’s annual report, then presented the same, which on motion of Maj. J. T. Stuart, was accepted, and the papers of the town requested to publish.

The meeting then had the pleasure of listening to as able and eloquent address from the appointed Speaker, Rev. J. T. Mitchell, who presented the following resolution--

“That the benefits which it confers upon the colored race, without injuring the white man, and the blessings which it proposes to dispense to the two Continents in its humane and missionary operations-the cause of African Colonization is worthy of the entire confidence, and the active, unwearied support of the American Patriot, the Philanthropist, and the Christian.”

The expressions of the meeting being taken upon this resolution, it was unanimously adopted, and a vote of thanks presented to the speaker for his instructive and animating discourse.

Dr. F. A. McNiel presented to the Society the sum of fifty-two dollars as the donation of the ladies of the Methodist Episcopal Church of this town to _____ their pastor, Rev. J. T. Mitchell and Mrs. Mitchell, member of the Society for life. Mr. Mitchell expressed his thankful acknowledgment of this personal compliment, and the Society by unanimous resolutions, “That gratitude for the donation with the hope that the example might be followed by other Churches in the county and elsewhere.”

Several annual subscriptions were then paid __, and a number of names added to the list of the annual subscription of ten dollars for ten years.

The following gentlemen were elected officers for the ensuing year:

Rev. CHARLES DRESSER, President,
Rev. J. T. MITCHELL, Vice President
Rev. JOHN G. BERGEN,
Dr. JOHN TODD,
Hon. JOHN T. STUART,
EDMUND ROBERTS, Esq.,[82]
JOHN WILLIAMS, Treasurer,
JOHN C. DOREMUS, Secretary,
Dr. F. A. McNiel,
Dr. J. R. Gray,[83]
Dr. M. Helm,
Hon. S. H. Treat,
Thos. Moffett, Esq.,
Birchall
B. S. Clement,
W. T. Bennett,[84]

On motion of Judge Treat, it was ordered that the papers be respectfully requested to publish the minutes of this meeting.

The Society then adjourned to meet upon the 22nd of February next.

Jno. C. DOREMUS, Sec’ry.

The Society now numbers about 150 members--twenty of whom pay an annual donation of ten dollars each--so that the annual sum of 350 dollars is contributed by the Society; a sum that will annually transport and settle in Africa twelve emancipated slaves. A practical result of benevolence and redemption, which the many hundred abolition societies throughout the land, have never yet, and never will be able to accomplish.

It is respectfully requested of those who have not yet paid their subscriptions, to hand them over to Mr. John Williams, the Treasurer--as opportunity of sending funds to the parent Association at Washington city, will soon offer.

Donations and subscriptions will also be received by any officers of the society.

By order,
JNO. C. DOREMUS, Sec’ry.

Road Networks in Illinois, 1839[85]

Ohio Editor Writes of Springfield
Ohio editor who wrote with such glowing enthusiasm that one is inclined to suspect him of an investment in Springfield real estate. At any rate, this is what he recorded after a visit in the early autumn of 1839.

Springfield lies on the edge of a large prairie. On the left, as you enter the village from the South, is a delightful grove, where the rills are more lively, and the ground more undulating than usual. . . . Approaching the southern part of the town, you leave a great sweep of verdant landscape behind you, and behold almost as great a natural meadow to your right. No one can conceive the grandeur and beauty of the scenery, unless he has wandered through a prairie country, at a season when an immense carpet, spangled with very bright yellow and vermilion flowers, and fringed along the line of the horizon with a darker timber, is spread over a very gracefully rolling surface, beneath a vast sky half covered with lowering clouds painted by the sun, and the other half as serene and clear as if no vapor had ever stained its azure.

But in the suburbs of Springfield there is a paradise in miniature, which compensates for the loss of the boundless prospect left behind. Small clusters of infant trees, which nature has planted with all the regularity, and more than the taste of art, rise like bowers of romance to hedge in the village with beauty. They extend, like arms from the main grove, not continuously, but like a chain of islands, gradually diminishing in size, and sheltering from a powerful noonday sun, the softly chiming rivulets. Here the man of leisure comes to steal pleasant thoughts from the cool shade, and the man of business for a while gives his care to the refreshing breezes that always carry on a rapid commerce over the heated plains. On Sunday the shady retirements are thronged with visitors in fine broadcloth, who find a place’ most inviting to contemplation.

Passing them reluctantly, you glance forward at the throng of stores, taverns, and shops, some wearing their titles on their fronts, some on long arms projecting from their sides, and some in the usual style of tavern signs, beneath the picture of a bird or beast, on a black board swinging from a miniature gallows. Before reaching the centre of business, you behold to your right an agreeable assemblage of dwelling houses very neatly painted, most of them white, and situated somewhat retiringly behind tasteful front yards. To the left, at a distance, are seen more showy edifiCeS,2 the principal expense of which seems to have been their decoration, standing rather proudly apart from the throng of neat but humble mansions. Passing a modest-looking meetinghouse, (The Methodist church, then at 5th and Monroe Streets.) which speaks more for the simple piety of the inhabitants, than the ostentatious taste of the citizens, you now approach an area fenced from the street by a long stone-cutter’s shop, eloquent with the music of scores of pick axes, shaping the rudiments of the new State House....

Turning to the east you see the comfortable buildings, apparently young and certainly tasteful, gradually dwindling in size and be- coming more scattered until the town melts away into the level monotonous plain. Several miles across the prairie is seen another grove, and along its margin clever farmhouses are strung in quite a picturesque manner. Toward these centres of rural felicity, narrow black paths wind through the desolate green. Along this edge of the town runs the Central Railroad, 4 now under contract. Follow this, in a northerly direction a short distance and then turn to the left, and new clusters of neat little dwellings attract your attentions many of them labelled as the residences of dealers in pills and legal advice. Towards the grove, the town assumes a more consolidated and antiquated appearance. Here is seen the rarest of all landscapes; crowded squares alive with shrubbery and tasteful ornaments, decorating alike the little remnant of twenty years ago, and costly edifices of last year. Every house is separated from the street by a neat front yard, and from its neighbor by a clean little garden; roses greet the visitor with a blush as he enters the gate, and pushing the door, he finds himself under a bower of honeysuckles.11 Old shackly buildings are concentrated as the temples of Flora. The sun of contentment and happiness seems to shine on all, and gives the abodes of simple elegance a charm to which mere magnificence must be a stranger [86]

‘The author was probably describing the grove which stood where the Governor’s Mansion is now located.
‘Probably the homes of Ninian W. Edwards, Lawrason Levering, and others at the south end of the present State House grounds.
‘On the right of way of the present-day Wabash.
‘Jefferson Street.

Arrival of Cornelius and Rebecca Brown Groesbeck and Family

Cornelius and Rebecca Brown Groesbeck[87] moved to Springfield on October 25, 1839. Cornelius, was born on March 1, 1817, in Renssellaer County, New York. He was there married, February 14, 1838, to Rebecca Brown, who was born January 13, 1817, in New York also.[88].
Register, October 28, 1839, p. 3
Daniel ragsdale’s Advertisement for Boarding House: Register, October 28, 1839[89]

Daniel ragsdale’s Advertisement for Boarding House: Register, October 28, 1839[90]

Daniel ragsdale’s Advertisement for Boarding House: Register, October 28, 1839[91]

Birth of Sarah E. Amos

Joshua F. and Julia A. Hay Amos had a daughter, Sarah E., on October 30, 1839.[92]

Marriage of Virgil Hickox and Catherine Cabiness

In October 1839, Virgil Hickox married Catherine Cabiness, a native of Kentucky.[93]

Virgil Hickox Builds House at Sixth and Market

In 1839, Virgil Hickox built the first part of the house at southwest corner of Sixth and Market (Capitol) Streets.[94] Virgil Hickox brought his wife to this house after their marriage.[95]

Virgil Hickox Residence at Sixth and Market Streets

NOVEMBER

Birth of Cynthia J. Armstrong

Hugh M. and Lavinia M. Dryer Armstrong had a daughter, Cynthia J., on November 1, 1839.

John T. Stuart Leaves For Congress
On November 2, 1839, John T. Stuart left Springfield to take his seat in Congress. Lincoln entered in the firm’s fee book, “Commencement of Lincoln’s Administration.”[96]

George Gregory’s Advertisement for Oxen Shoeing: Register,

Marriage of Chloe E. Abel and John Armstrong
On November 14, 1839, 27-year-old Chloe E. Abel, the daughter of Roswell and Betsy Mason Abel, married John Armstrong.[97]

Special Election To Replace Charles R. Matheny as County Clerk
On November 16, 1839, an election was held to fill the unexpired term of Charles R. Matheny, county clerk. Lincoln voted for Noah W. Matheny, who was elected over Edmund Taylor, 966 to 653.[98]

Arrival Of Albert Hale,Minister Of Second Presbyterian Church

In the summer of 1839, the congregation invited Rev. Albert Hale to become its pastor. He accepted the invitation, and preached his first regular sermon here on the 15th of November following. He was installed on the first day of July, 1840, and remained as pastor until January, 1867, a period of twenty-seven years.[99]

Rev. Albert Hale was born in November 1799 in Connecticut, graduated from Yale College in 1827 and later as a Missionary traveled on horseback through South Carolina and Georgia preaching Christ by the wayside to fellow travelers and in the homes where he was entertained, and where he found he could make an opportunity. He afterwards returned to the Theological Seminary in New Haven and finished his course there in 1831. While in Seminary he was one of the band of students who formed what is historically known as the Illinois Movement, and who devoted themselves to christian labor in that State. In November 1831 he landed at Shawneetown where he preached...

Having accepted a call from the Second Church of Springfield he entered upon his work there in November 1839. At the time Mr. Hale was in full vigor of young manhood. He was strong in body, vigorous in mind and possessed of wonderful energy. It is said in the days of his prime and power, the men impressed by his appearance often stopped to look at him and ask who he was.[100]

In the summer of 1839, the congregation invited Rev. Albert Hale to become its pastor. He accepted the invitation, and preached his first regular sermon here on the 15th of November following. He was installed on the first day of July, 1840, and remained as pastor until January, 1867, a period of twenty-seven years. His pastorate was a pleasant and profitable one to the congregation, land he only resigned on account of increasing age, believing that a younger than he might minister more acceptably.[101]

Week of Political Debates

On November 19, 1839, a week of political debate began. Cyrus Walker led off for the Whigs and Douglas replied. Lincoln closed the debate. The Register termed it a plot of “two pluck one,” and accused Lincoln of an assumed clownishness he is advised to correct.[102]

On November 23, 1839, John Calhoun for the Democrats and Edward D. Baker for the Whigs continued the debate.

On November 30, 1839, the debates continued with Douglas discussing a national bank. Lincoln replied, beginning, says the Register with embarrassment and continuing without making the slightest impression. “Mr. L. of Wednesday night was not the L. of Tuesday.”[103]

Special Election For Legislative Seat of John Calhoun

On November 25, 1839, a special election to fill the vacancy caused by John Calhoun’s resignation from the legislature was held. The vote was close in the district that includes Sangamon, Logan, Menard, and Dane Counties. Thomas J. Nance won by 36 votes.[104]
DECEMBER

Legislature’s First Meeting in Springfield

On December 9, 1839, the Legislature met in Springfield for the first time. The House sat at the Second Presbyterian Church. Oscar Love and Richard Kerr of Pike contested the seat. When the legislature convened in early December the town was so crowded that many of the visitors had difficulty in finding accommodations.[105]

American House Accommodates Legislators

When the legislature met for the first time in Springfield, in December 1839, the well-to-do members took up their residence in the American House recently completed at the southeast corner of the square. It was a three-story brick structure. Its forty rooms, large lobby and elegant dining room gave foundation to its claim of being the finest hotel in the west. For more than a decade this building was a center of social and political life in Springfield. Lincoln was one of the managers of a cotillion given here for members of the legislature. President Martin Van Buren and Vice President Richard M. Johnson were among the notables who stopped at the American.[106]

American House

Birth of Charles H. Watson
.
On December 11, 1839, William M. and Sarah Talbott had a son, Charles H.[107]

Birth of Albert S. Edwards
.
On December 16, 1839 Ninian W. and Elizabeth P. Todd Edwards had a son, Albert S.[108]

Birth of Julia R. Cook
.
On December 16, 1839 Eli and Sarah Jones Cook had a daughter, Julia R.[109]

Bill to Incorporate Springfield Mechanics Union

On December 19, 1839, Lincoln reported from committee a bill to incorporate the Springfield Mechanics Union.[110]
Collected Works: v. I, p. 158: Amendment Introduced in Illinois Legislature to Bill Incorporating the Springfield Mechanic's Union
(December 19, 1839)
Amend the bill by filling the blank in the first section with "Caleb Burchall (Birchall?), Thomas Lewis, Edmund R. Wiley, William D. Herndon, Simeon Francis, George R. Weber, Walter Davis, George Wood, and R F Coflin

Town Board Sets License Fee For Smaller Groceries

On December 24, 1839, at a meeting of the Town Board, Lincoln and the other trustees decided to license smaller groceries for $25 for a two-month period.[111]

Arrival of Albert Taylor Bledsoe
.
Albert Taylor Bledsoe, born in Frankfort, Kentucky, on November 9, 1808, was the eldest of five children of Sophia Childress Taylor of Franklin County, Virginia, and Moses Owsley Bledsoe of Madison County, Kentucky. The family moved to Carrollton, Illinois in July of 1825. Albert attended West Point, studied law, studied theology at Kenyon College. Albert joined his father and mother in Carrollton in July 1839, where he began the practice of law, but moved to Springfield in December.[112]

Arrival of Mrs. Benjamin S. Edwards
The experience of Mrs. B. S. (Helen K. Dodge) Edwards, who came to Springfield in the winter of 1839-40 as a bride, was typical. As the stage on which she and her husband had traveled from St. Louis lumbered slowly through the mud of the unlighted streets, she could think only of the forbidding aspect of her new home, and her heart was heavy at the prospect. At the American House a number of passengers were discharged. Then the driver headed for the home of her husband’s brother Ninian, where the young couple was to stay. Within all was bright, cheerful and hospitable. In less than a week Mrs. Edwards was in the swing of a “legislative winters’ and her forebodings were forgotten.[113]

Mrs. Edwards was born in old Kaskaskia in 1819, the daughter of Col. Henry S. Dodge. … Although Mrs. Edwards was born in Kaskaskia, her father took his family back to New York when she was quite young and she was educated in that city and in New Haven, Conn., to which place the family removed that the sons might attend Yale University. There she met Benjamin Stephenson Edwards, who was a student at the university, and she was married to him on the 13th day of August, 1839. The young married couple came to Springfield and for a short time, while their own house was being built, made their home at the hospitable house of Ninian Wirt Edwards, the brother of the young husband.[114]

UNKNOWN MONTHS

Arrival of Milton H. Wash

Milton H. Wash, born on March 16, 1819, in Todd County, Kentucky, came to Springfield in 1839.[115]
GET MORE FOR LATER YEARS

Arrival of John H. Mowry

John H. Mowry, born on February 26, 1829, in Charleston, South Carolina, accompanied his father to Chicago in 1836, came to Springfield in 1839. He learned the carpenter’s trade.[116]
GET MORE FOR LATER YEARS

Arrival of Marcus Millington

Marcus Millington, born on March 14, 1801, in Millington Spring, New York, accompanied his father to Ohio, and was married June 3, 1827, at Worthington to Jane Justice, a native of that State. They had two children there, and came with his father to Sangamon County, Illinois arriving October 1839, and stopping for a short time at Mazeppa, in Cotton Hill Township where one child was born. He soon after moved into Springfield.[117]
Arrival of Mercy Leavering
During the winter of 1839-40, Lawrason Leavering’s sister, Mercy, lived with the Leavering’s. Mercy quickly became an intimate of her young neighbor from Kentucky, Mary Todd.[118]

Residence of Lawrason Levering

Arrival of Rev. Francis and Mary Kreigh Springer

The Reverend Francis Springer and his wife, Mary Kriegh, arrived in Springfield in 1839. Springer was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania in 1810, and was orphaned at the age of five and indentured to a sign-painter and carriage maker. Springer was taken under the wing of a Lutheran minister, who, recognizing the young man’s potential, sent him to Gettysburg Theological Seminary, where Springer studied for the ministry. Springer received a bachelor’s degree from Gettysburg College and a theological certificate from Hartwick Seminary in Onneoka, New York.[119]

Arrival of John G. Ives

John G. Ives, born in Oneida County, New York, in 1818, came to Springfield in 1839. He learned the jeweler's and watchmaker's trade in New York State, and worked at the bench there, and after coming to Springfield, until 1855.[120]

Marriage of William Lavely and Lavinia Constant

William Lavely married Lavinia Constant in 1839.

Birth of Varveel Fleurville

William and Phoebe Fleurville had their fourth child, Varveel, who was born in Springfield on _________ __, 1839.

Band Reorganized by Jack Hough
A band was formed in the thirties, and reorganized in 1839 under the direction of Jack Hough, the cabinetmaker.[121]

Town’s First Sewer
In excavating for the Adams street sewer, the workmen have exhumed a couple of interesting relics of the olden time. About midway on the south side of the square may be seen a specimen of the first sewer of the town, built over twenty years ago, consisting of two heavy pieces of timber laid parallel on the ground, the top covered with boards. A few feet from it was found a number of good sized logs, which once formed a regular old fashioned "corduroy bridge" over which the first settlers crossed the "slough" that traversed through what is now known as the south side of the square, one of the great business thoroughfares of the city.[122]

Construction of Second Presbyterian Church
In 1839, the Second Presbyterian Church began construction of a brick building at the northwest corner of Fourth and Monroe Streets, a little north of the intersection, and finished the building in 1840.[123] Its cost was in the neighborhood of $12,000.

Second Presbyterian Church, Springfield, Illinois: construrcted in 1839

First Methodist Church Builds Fences and Inventories Parsonage Property
.As both the church and the parsonage were on the two lots given by Mr. Enos, the trustees felt that a cross fence should be put up between them. The next year further improvements were authorized. These were: first, to extend the fence to enclose all of the church ground; second, to make a division fence between the church and the parsonage; third, to have a wide gate in front of each one; fourth, to cut off a small lot for the preacher’s cow; and fifth, to lay board walks to the gates from the church and from the parsonage. The total cost was about $117.00.[124]

The parsonage furniture belonged to the church, and the secretary was directed to take an inventory of it.

1 breakfast table 2 small tea buckets
2 doz. Chairs 1 bookcase
1 toilet glass 1 crib
1 small table 1 bedsteads
1 pair brass andirons 1 high chair
1 pair brass shovel & tongs 1 high chair
2 flour barrels 1 coffee mill
1 pair andirons 1 small oven & lid
1 coffee boiler 1 pair hooks
1 bureau 1 safe
1 stone jug 2 tubs
1 stew kettle hooks for crane
1 skillet 1 large rocking chair[125]

E. G. Johns Sells House at Eighth and Market to Illinois Board of Public Works

In 1839, E. G. Johns sold his house at the northwest corner of Eighth and Market (now Capitol) Streets to the Illinois Board of Public Works. As described in the 1840 Reports of the Board of Public Works, the building 18 by 42 feet, had two stories and stood on a lot that was 80 by 157 feet. From 1839 to 1843 the building was used as the office of the board and also as the residence of the board secretary, William Prentiss.[126]

Estate Of Nathan Cromwell vs. David Bailey,Lawsuit Involving Nance, A Colored Woman [127]

In 1839 the administrators of the Estate of Nathan Cromwell brought suit in the Circuit Court of Tazwell County against David Bailey upon his promissory note made to Cromwell, in his lifetime, for the purchase of a Black girl named Nance. Judge Stephen T. Logan represented Cromwell’s estate and Abraham Lincoln represented Bailey. The trial judge entered judgment upon the note in favor of the plaintiff for $431.97. Bailey appealed the case to the Illinois Supreme Court, where it was contended that the note was without consideration and void, as it was given as the purchase price of a human being who, the evidence showed, was free and therefore not the subject of sale.

Writing for the Supreme Court, Judge Breese reversed the trial court and held, contrary to the established rule in many of the southern states, that the presumption in Illinois was that a Black was free and not the subject of sale.[128] Under the old rule, the burden was upon the Black to establish that he was free, and the Black who asserted he was not a slave was required to bring forward his proof, which he often could not do.[129]

Could this be Nance Cox who was sold in 1827 as a part of the liquidation of Thomas Cox’s debts? But she was sold to Mr. Taylor, not to Mr. Cromwell. Perhaps Taylor subsequently sold her to Cromwell.

Preamble and Constitution of Springfield Anti-Slavery Society

There are three “drafts” or versions of the Constitution of the Springfield Anti-Slavery Society. One is unsigned. Two are signed, the first being signed by 29 subscribers and the second being signed by 10 subscribers.

The first version containing 29 signatures is as follows:

Preamble

Whereas the Most High God hath made of our Blood all nations of Man to dwell on the face of the Earth and hath commanded them to love their neighbor as themselves and whereas our National existence is based on this principle as recognized in the Declaration of Independence That all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and whereas nearly one sixth part of our nation are held in bondage by their fellow men contrary to the principals of national justice of our republican government and the Christian Religion and whereas we owe it to God to our Country our neighbor and ourselves to do all in our power to relieve the oppressive and to maintain those principles of liberty and equality which we have avowed as the basis of our civil institutions before God and the world.

Therefore we do hereby agree to form ourselves into a Society to be governed by the following constitution

Article 1st This Society shall be called the Springfield Anti-slavery Society subsidiary to the Sangamon County Antislavery Society.

Article 2nd The object of this Society Shall be to disseminate light on the subject of Slavery compare it with the word of God & endeavor to pursuade our fellow man to use all appropriate means to secure the entire abandonment in the world.

Article 3rd. Any person who consents to the principles ;of this Society may become a member by subscribing this constitution.

Article 4th The officers of this Society shall be a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer who with two others shall constitute a Board of Managers to be chosen annually.

Article 5th The Board of Managers shall make arrangements for all Meetings of the Society see that suitable addresses are delivered, adopt the most energetic measures to advance the objects of the Society and make an annual written report of their doings of their income & expenditures of the Society.

Article 6th The President shall preside at all Meetings of the Society or in case of his absence the Vice Pres’ or some other person for the time being. The Secretary shall keep a full record of all the proceedings as the Society shall direct. The Treasurer shall keep all monies of the Society collect and pay out as directed by the Society and make an annual report of his doings.

Article 7th The Society shall meet quarterly at such time and place as the Board of Managers shall direct and one of these Meetings shall be called the annual meeting at which time the officers shall be chosen.

Article 8th This constitution may be altered at any meeting of the Society by a vote of two thirds of the Members present. Provided always that the proposed amendment be mentioned at the preceding meeting.

Erastus Wright Betsy Abel
Roswell Abel Chloe E. Abel
Oswald Hempstede Sophia L. Phelps
John G. Paine Mary A. Phelps
G. L. Strickland Susan P. Zimmerman
Joseph Torrey Abagail S. Torrey
Rich d Morgan Catharine Wiley
C. B. Spear (?) Louisa Arnold
Robert D. Cannon Wm Rogers
Edmund R. Wiley Elizabeth Gillis
Jonathan C. Bancroft Isaac Bancroft Jun.
O. B. Culver John Morse Jr.
Henry S. Freewin George Strickland
Hector M. Sheldon James L. Lamb
_____ Abel

A partial draft, going only through Article 3rd and containing no signatures, is as follows:

Preamble

Whereas the Most High God hath made of our Blood all nations of Men to dwell on the face of the Earth and hath commanded them to love their neighbors as themselves, “And whereas our National existence is based on this Principle as recognized in the declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, And whereas about one sixth part of this Nation are held in bondage by their fellow men, And whereas we believe slavery to be inconsistent with the principals of natural justice and the Christian Religion and to be destructive to the liberty, Peace and prosperity of the Country where it exists. And whereas we believe we owe it to the oppressor as well as to the oppressed. To Posterity; to our Country & our God to do all in our Power to bring about the extinction of Slavery we do hereby agree (with prayerful reliance on the Divine aid) to form ourselves in a Society to be governed by the following:

Constitution

Article 1st This Society shall be called the Sangamon County Anti-Slavery Auxiliary to the State/Society.

Article 2nd The objects of this Society shall be to ______ and rectify Public Sentiment on the subject Slavery and by the use of all judicious & appropriate to secure its entire abandonment in the United States. And as we believe that all Sin and transgressions should be immediately abandoned, So we conceive it is the duty of all to act with Christian ____ in a constitutional way for the removal of this far ___ evil of Slavery. By encouraging the intellectual & religious improvement of the People of color and ___ to remove that ___ prejudice which has so long ____ against them. (The bold has been stricken.)

Article 3rd. Any person may become a member of this Society subscribing ________ who consents to the principles of this Constitution _______________

The second version containing 10 signatures is as follows:

Preamble

Whereas the Most High God hath made of our Blood all nations of Men to dwell on the face of the Earth and hath commanded them to love their neighbors as themselves, “And whereas our National existence is based on this Principle as recognized in the declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, And whereas about one sixth part of this Nation are held in bondage by their fellow men, And whereas we believe slavery to be inconsistent with the principals of natural justice and the Christian Religion and to be destructive to the liberty, Peace and prosperity of the Country where it exists. And whereas we believe we owe it to the oppressor as well as to the oppressed. To Posterity; to our Country & our God to do all in our Power to bring about the extinction of Slavery we do hereby agree (with praerful reliance on the Devine aid) to form ourselves in a Society to be governed by the following:

Constitution

Article 1st This Society shall be called the Sangamon County Anti-Slavery Auxiliary to the State/Society.

Article 2nd The object of this Society is to enlighten to rectify public sentiment on the subject Slavery & to convince our fellow citizens by arguments addressed to their understandings & conscience that the system of Slavery is a great sin in the sight of God, & that the duty, safety & best interests of all concerned requires its immediate abandonment. The Society will also endeavor , in a constitutional way, to influence Congress to put an end to the domestic slave trade, & to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia.

Article 3rd. This Society shall aim to elevate the character & condition of the people of color, by encouraging their intellectual & religious improvement & by remaining prejudice, that according to intellectual & moral ___, they may share an equality with the whites of civil & religious privileges; but this society will not countenance the oppressed in vindicating their rights by physical force.

Art 4th The officers of this Society shall be a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer & Board of Managers to consist of the aforesaid officers and other members of whom shall constitute a quorum to do business.

Article 5th The Board of Managers shall have Power to call Meetings fill any vacancies in the Board appoint Delegates and in general to have the Supervision and management of the Society

*Art 6th The President shall preside at all Meetings and in his absence one of the Vice Pres. or a member _____ time. The Secretaries & Treasurer shall perform the appropriate duties of their office and make a report annually to the Society.

Article 7th This Constitution may be amended at any regular Meeting by a vote of two thirds Members present Provided the said proposed amendment has been made known at a preceding meeting.

Article 6 We officers of this Society shall perform the duties usually belonging to their respective offices.

W. T. Allan
E. Wright
Edmund R. Wiley
James L. Lamb
Joseph Torrey
Roswell Abel
C. C. Phelps
Hector M. Sheldon
John G. Paine
Thomas Galt
[1] Power, p. 631-632.
[2] Day By Day, p. 101. Alton Telegraph, January 19, 1839.
[3] Campbell, p. 50.
[4] Angle, p. 73
[5] Temple, Capitol, p. 8.
[6] Illinois State Historical Library, Newspaper Division: a few issues for this period are on microfilm.
[7] See “Resolution of Presbytery of Sangamon”-1838 at page __.
[8] See “Arrival of Abolitionist at Farmingdale”-1833 at page ___.
[9] Power, p. 102.
[10] Power, pp. 20-21.
[11] Angle, p. 200.
[12] 1881 History, p. 687.
[13] Journal, March. 30, 1839, p. 3, cl. 6.
[14] Day By Day, p. 108.
[15] Journal, March 23, 1839, p. 2, cl. 7.
[16] Power, p. 230.
[17] Journal, March 30, 1839, p. 3, cl. 6.
[18] Power, p. 769
[19] Temple, Capitol, p. 12.
[20] Journal, April 5, 1839, p. 3, cl. 4.
[21] Journal, April 12, 1839, p. 3, cl. 4.
[22] Home, pp. 3 and 7.
[23] Journal, April 26, 1839, p. 3, cl. 5.
[24] Power, p. 633. R. F. Ruth was a member of the firm of Ruth & Hurst, dry goods merchants, fifty years, terminating in 1875. He served one term as alderman, and four years as Water Works Commissioner. In 1868 he became president of the Marine and Fire Insurance Company Bank, and now - 1876 - occupies the same position, and resides in Springfield, Illinois.
[25] Journal, April 19, 1839, p. 3, cl. 1.
[26] Powers, p. __.
[27] Power, History of Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois, p. __.
[28] Power, pp. 379-380.
[29] Powers, p. __
[30] Power, p.__.
[31] Day By Day, p. 110.
[32] By Square and Compasses, pp. 6-7.
[33] By Square and Compasses, pp. 3 and 7. On January 16, 1844, Abraham Lincoln purchased this house and the Lincoln family took possession of the home in April of that year
[34] Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, XLVIII, p. 14.
[35] Power, p. 519.
[36] Born on December 13, 1818 in Lexington, Kentucky.
[37] Baker, p. 79. Mary Lincoln, Wife and Widow, Carl Sandburg and Paul M. Angle, (Letters, Documents & Appendix), Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York, 1932, p. 164. Lincoln Encyclopedia, p. 95.
[38] Mary Lincoln, Wife and Widow, Carl Sandburg and Paul M. Angle, (Letters, Documents & Appendix), Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York, 1932, p. 164.
[39] Journal, June 14, 1839, p. 2, cl. 2.
[40] Journal, June 28, 1839, p. 2, cl. 1.
[41] 1881 History, pp. 255 and 1048.
[42] Power, pp. 509-510 Francis A. McNeill, born January 1, 1809, in Allegheny county, Md. He was baptized in infancy by Rev. Francis Asbury, the first Bishop of the M. E. Church in America. He was converted in early life, and at twenty years of age was in the ministry and stationed at Frederick City, Md. His health failing, he commenced the study of medicine, and in 1824 graduated at the University of Maryland, in Baltimore, and located at Shepherdstown, Va. Hew was married Feb. 1, 1830 in Frederick City, Md., to Mary E. Cronise, who was born there, March 4, 1812. Dr. McNeill and wife moved from Shepherdstown, Va., to Springfield, ill., in the spring of 1835. He practiced medicine in Springfield twelve years, and at the same time retained his ministerial connection. In 1847 Dr. McNeill moved to Peoria, and became pastor of the Methodist church at that place. From there he was appointed to Racine, Wisconsin, and from there to Mr. Morris, Ogle county, Ill., October 1852. His labors in the ministry had again impaired his health, and at Mr. Morris he resumed the practice of Medicine. Dr. McNeill had ten children, five of whom died young... Rev. Francis A. McNeill, M.D., died Feb. 3, 1872, at Mr. Morris, Ogle county, Ill.,... In addition to the labors of two professions, he found time to devote to political matters. Having from childhood witnessed the pernicious influence of slavery, he very early in life became an opponent of its extension. It was partly to avoid its influence that he moved West. While practicing medicine in Springfield, he took an active part in the politics of the day. As a public speaker, he advocated the election of Harrison for President in 1840, and in 1844 was a delegate to the convention that nominated Clay for President. He was one of the delegates from Ogle county to the convention that assembled in Bloomington in 1856, which gave birth to the Republican party. Being a warm friend of Mr. Lincoln, while living in Springfield, when the latter became a candidate for President, he had not a more ardent supporter than Dr. McNeill.

Before the convention assembled that nominated Mr. Lincoln, Dr. McNeill was editing a paper at Mount Morris, and was among the first to hoist the name of Abraham Lincoln for President. In 1860 he was elected Representative from Ogle county, for two years, in the State Legislature; and was, consequently, in that body when the rebellion broke out. He was appointed Oct. 12, 1861, by Governor Yates, army surgeon, and was with the 34th Ill. Inf. About six months, when he resigned on account of impaired health. He was commissioned July 18, 1862, hospital chaplain, and assigned to the post at Paducah, Ky., where he remained until 1864, when he was transferred to Louisville, as chaplain of the post there. He resigned August, 1865, returned home, and resumed the practice of medicine, which he continued until stricken down with paralysis, which, after a year’s suffering, terminated in death...
1881 History, pp. 185 and 255.
[43] John C. Doremus: 1881 History, pp. 84 and 98.
[44] 1881 History, p. 287.
[45] Day By Day, p. 112.
[46] Minutes of Town Board. Day By Day, p. 113.
[47] Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin P. Thomas, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1952.
[48] Capitol, Temple, p. __.
[49] Angle, p. 83
[50] Power, p. 528.
[51] Power, p. 534
[52] Journal, July 12, 1839, p. 2, cl. 6.
[53] Day By Day, p. 114. Clerk’s Minutes.
[54] Power, p. 580. Canedy and 2nd Northwest Corner: (clergyman Methodist Episcopal Church).
1860 census, p. 507 (Ill.)(41). $10,000/$150.
[55] Day By Day, p. 115.
[56] Journal, August 9, 1839, p. 2, cl. 4.
[57] Register, August 10, 1839, p. 3
[58] Register, August 10, 1839, p. 1.
[59] Power, p. 94.
[60] Register, October 28, 1839, p. 3.
[61] Register, August 10, 1839, p. 4.
[62] Journal, September 6, 1839, p. 2, cl. 5. REGISTER???
[63] Journal, September 20, 1839, p. 2, cl. 5.
[64] Register, September 28, 1839, p. 4.
[65] Temple, Capitol, p. 8. Angle, p. 200.
[66] Register, October 28, 1839, p. 3.
[67] Register, October 28, 1839, p. 3.
[68] Power, p. 360. (9/29/1839-_/__/___)
[69] Angle, p. (Chapter 6)
[70] Register, October 28, 1839, p. 3.
[71] Power, p. 756.
[72] Register, October 28, 1839, p. 3.
[73] Journal, October 18, 1839, p. 3, cl. 2.
[74] Journal, October 25, 1839, p. 2, cl. 6.
[75] Angle, p. 83.
[76] Register, October 28, 1839, p. 3.
[77] Day By Day, p. 118. Journal, October 11, 1839. Register, October 12, 1839. Niles Register, November 7, 1839.
[78] Day By Day, p. 118. Register, October 12, 1839.
[79] Day By Day, p. 118.
[80] Day By Day, p. 118. Clerk’s Minutes.
[81] Journal, October 18, 1839, p. 3, cl. 2.
A frame church was erected upon one of the lots in the summer of 1830 and dedicated the following winter. …in October, 1852, up to which time the old frame church, built in 1830 had been used for divine worship. 1881 History, p. 600.
[82] 1881 History, p. 274.
[83] 1881 History, pp. 539 (1832: Cholera), 287, 565 (1834: President: Springfield Board of Trustees) (1840: First Ward Alderman), 566, and 621 (Masonic Lodge: 1839).
Arrived in 1830. Z. Enos: Snow Birds.
Gray, Dr. James R. Married: Margaret B. Children: Agnes, John.
Doctor.
Journal, takes up estray, Ja26/32-3:4; Spfd. Phys.-signs cholera report, N24-1:4; agt to sell lands for Ninian Edwards, Ap27/33-3:3; mem. Spfd. Bd. Health, Jy6-3:1; judge elec. Spfd trustees, Mr11/37-3:3; vp. Sang. Co. Soc. For Promotion of Educ., O7-1:3; recom. E. C. Lavender, Jy7/38-1:7; vp Jy4 banquet, -2:1; chmn. Spfd. Citz mtg., Jy28-2:2; elec. Mgr. Sang. Co. Colonization Soc, O18/39-3:2; cand. Spfd. Alderman, Ap10/40-2:1; elec. Ap24-2:5; adv. For estrays, My1-2:7, My28/41-3:2; resigns as alderman, Ag27-2:2; m. Julia Ann Hitt, D3-2:7; mgr. Ill. St. Colonization Soc., Ja23/45-3:4; deft. Chancery suit Ja28/47-3:2; My27-3:7; deft. Attachment suit, S23-3:5.
Power, p. 45 (Alderman: 1840), 49 (note for Capitol in 1838).
Block 2, Edwards. Z. Enos: Snow Birds
[84] 1881 History, pp. 185, 600, 1050 and 990.
[85] Making the Heartland Quilt, p. 68.
[86] Angle, pp. 85-87.
[87] (1817-____)
[88] Power, p. 343.
[89] Register, October 28, 1839, p. 3.
[90] Register, October 28, 1839, p. 3.
[91] Register, October 28, 1839, p. 3.
[92] Power, p. 82.
[93] Power, p. 377.
[94] 1858 Sides Map.
Brick rectangle and two wooden square outbuildings;name-"V. Hickox"; faces Market.
Lots 1 and 2, Block 2, P.P. Enos' Addition.
518 East Capitol.
Extant. Photo. National register. Built in stages with the rear part being the earliest, circa 1839.
[95] Power, p. 377.
[96] Day By Day, p. 119.
[97] Power, p. 76. See his name at Jackson to Edwards in the Fifth Street Index.
[98] Day By Day, p. 121. Journal, November 23, 1839.
[99] 1881 History, p. 605. Pastor A. Hale: pastor 1840-1866.
[100] Conking Speech.
[101] 1881 History, p. 605.
[102] Day By Day, p. 121. Register, November 23, 1839.
[103] Day By Day, p. 121. Register, November 23, 1839.
[104] Pease, p. 328. Register, November 30, 1839. C. W., I, p. 154.
[105] Angle, p. 83.
[106] Pratt, Public Square.
[107] Power, p. 753.
[108] Power, p. 278.
[109] Power, p. 228.
[110] Day By Day, p. 125.
[111] Day By Day, p. 125. Clerk’s Minutes.
[112]
[113] Angle, p. 92.
[114] Mrs. Helen K. Dodge Edwards, Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Vol. 2, April 1909, No. 1, p. 34.
[115] Power, p. 751.
[116] Power, p. 537
[117] Power, p. 523.
[118] Angle, p. 93.
[119] The Preacher’s Tale, transcribed and edited by William Furry, Sangamon County Historical Society, 1999.
[120] 1881 History, p. 682:
[121] Angle, p.102.
[122] Illinois State Register, November 2, 1859, p. 3, cl. 2.
[123] 1881 History, p. 605. Pastor A. Hale: pastor 1840-1866. 1881 History, p. 286: Regarding the move of the State Capitol to Springfield. “Finding that the building could not be sufficiently advanced, the Second Presbyterian Church, on Fourth Street, was secured as Representatives’ Hall. The building was then quite new, and was by far the largest church edifice in the central and whole northern part of the State. It was built of brick, stood a few feet north of the site of the present magnificent Second Presbyterian Church, until the latter was erected. The old building was torn down in the summer of 1875.
Lot 6, Block 20, Old Town of Springfield.
[124] First Methodist Church, Piersel, pp. 7-8.
[125] First Methodist Church, Piersel, p. 7.
[126] Hickey, James T., The First Governor’s Mansion: 1843-1856, Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, February 1976, p. 15.
[127] 3 Scammon, p. 70.
Sandburg, p. Abraham Lincoln 1809-1858, Albert J. Beveridge, Houghton Mifflin Company, The Riverside Press Cambridge, 1928, v. I, pp. 98-99, fn. 3. (Hereinafter “Beveridge.”) Oates, p. 101.
Lincoln the Lawyer, Frederick Trevor Hill, The Century Co., New York, 1906, p. 118.
THERE ARE NO ESTATE PAPERS IN SANGAMON COUNTY. Check other Counties.
[128] 3 Scammon, p. 71.
[129] Hand, p. 45. Day by Day, p. 117 (9/28/1839); p. 124 (12/9/1839); p. 163 (7/9/1841); p. 164 (7/23/1841).

2007-03-16T04:53:00.000-06:00

LINCOLN'S SPRINGFIELD

HOTELS AND TAVERNS
The American House Hotel was built by Elijah Iles in 1837 at the southeast corner of Sixth and Adams Streets.In 1838 Elijah Iles built the American House on the southeast corner of Sixth and Adams Streets. Its size alone created a sensation. When it was opened, on November 26, 1838, two hundred citizens dined with the manager, J. Clifton, “late of Boston.”

American House, considered finest three-story brick hotel west of the Alleghenies, was opened with a brilliant dinner attended by 200 guests. Lincoln probably attended.[1]

An Ohio editor wrote:
“Near the State House, he wrote, “is a gigantic building, called the American House, intended perhaps as the tavern proper for the Legislators.-Politics and politeness hover round this splendid affair. Everything inside puts you in mind of the Turkish splendor, the carpeting, the papering, and the furniture, weary the eye with magnificence. The building itself is distinguished more for the harmony and simplicity of its proportions, than the richness of its exterior. A fine place for those who are troubled with a superabundance of silver.”[2]
[1] Day By Day, p. 98.
[2] Angle, 87.

The St. Charles Hotel was built circa 1830s on the south side of Jefferson between Second and Third Streets.

The Globe Tavern was built about 18___ on the north side of Adams between Third and Fourth Streets.

The Chenery House was built about 18___ at the northeast corner of Fourth and Washington Streets.

2007-03-16T04:41:00.000-06:00

LINCOLN'S SPRINGFIELD

RAILROADS

2007-03-16T04:27:00.000-06:00

LINCOLN'S SPRINGFIELD

CHURCHES

The First Presbyterian Church at the southeast corner of Third and Washington Streets.

2007-03-13T20:07:00.000-06:00

SOME EARLY SPRINGFIELD LETTERS

Israel Sanderson , Springfield, Illinois, Letter to John Sanderson, West Townsend, Vermont, dated May 25, 1845
Transcribed by Curtis Mann

Dear Uncle,

We received your much welcomed letter of the 14th of April, and had long looked for something in the shape of a letter from you before. We had at times thought you had entirely forgotten us, or, like our Father, was numbered with the dead. Yet we knew not why. It did not seen that either you or your family had ever existed, before we received your letter, as you never had written to us (we your nephews and niece) and if you have, we never have received the first line, only as our deceased father had told us in years long gone by, so that you could not have expected us to have written to you before, when we did not exactly know where to direct our letters to you, as you might have been in some far distant land.

Many a time would we have written to you, but we had not the most remote hope of ver hearing from you, our feelings of friendship as relations were not, only in a very small degree warmed up.

You wrote in those few lines to our mother that if some one of the family would write after the receipt of your letter that “you would esteem it a favor” I shall not in the least, nor do I believe anyone of the family would consider it so, but will think it a duty and a pleasure, after your having conferred the favor we have long hoped to see. Cousin John also said “he deemed it not an intrusion to write to us” – Far from it, we could not think it so and hope he will from time to time continue to do so.

We are all in pretty good health and making our way through the world to the best advantage yet to a great many disadvantages, as we are poor folks. My sister and brothers, John, Roff and David are yet at home. I went to the Printing Business in the commencement of 1839 and served 5 years. Worked Journey work part of the time since but am not able to work at it steady, being too unhealthy a business and I having too weak a constitution to stand it. I expect to go to some other business as soon as I can make it convenient. Traveling I have not doubt but would do me much good as I went 5 or 600 miles last spring and fattened up considerable. I would make you a visit but it is too expensive. I would like to see you very much. Cyrus is learning the chair making and painting and weighs as much if not more than I do, although I am far the oldest.

Mother has again married. She married the 16th of November 1850 to a Mr. Jared B Fox, a millwright by trade and has by him two children, both boys, name Jared and James.

It may perhaps be interesting to you to know something about our country in this vicinity, as it cannot be surpassed as a farming country, I believe in the United States for the richness of its soil; yet we have too much land too level, consequently too wet. On our high rolling land, we never lose a crop no difference what the weather is during the growing season, whether it be wet or dry if the seasons for the last 15 years are any example, for we have had a variety of them. I know of land that has been under cultivation for 15 or 20 years and have never been manured and bring very near as good crops now, if not as good as they did the first year they were cultivated. I have heard men from the New England states say that we can raise near twice the produce to the acre that you New Englanders can, with your labor put on our soil. You will perhaps think our country is not quite so good if you see, or have not already seen the letters of Solon Robinson published in the Albany Agriculturalist (I think) but a little while back, for he has missed it considerably in most everything about our part of the country and I should certainly think he came through in the night and allowed some way to bore him very bad. Our city contains about 4,000 inhabitants and is scattered over a large prairie to a considerable extent and is a pretty smart business place in business times it being I suppose you know the seat of government.

There is 2 Presbyterian Churches, 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1 Baptist, 1 Episcopalian, 1 Catholic, 1 Campbellite and have service from most every other denomination now and then. There is about 20 dry goods stores, 2 hardware and iron stores, and 1 iron foundry. Groceries in proportion with all kinds of workshops necessary for the country. 3 steam flouring and 1 saw mill. We have what I suppose you would call in looking at our town, a good many good buildings and a great many bad ones, yet for a new county like ours, I think it will do pretty well, provided the weather was not so changeable. We have had a very mild winter indeed so much that one might have ploughed half the time and I do believe it has not been frozen more than 6 inches at any one time and that not mor than two or three times. We have had neither rain or snow more than a half dozen times this winter which I think did not wet the ground more than 2 or 3 inches at the most. Some of our farmers commenced ploughing about the 1st of February. We had had rain the present month 3 or 4 times and frost about the same number, which I am afraid, has killed a great deal of corn yet it may sprout again. I advise no one to come to Illinois but were I to farm for my livelihood. I would as soon take her as any State in the Union. Our market is none the best for farmers yet all seem to dispose of their surplus produce. The best parting of farming is raising hogs and raising wheat, according to my notion, for corn is so easily raised that one man can attend to from 35 to 40 acres. Hoeing is never done here, except in gardens, with one exception, and that is in covering corn when you plant it and that could, and is dispensed with by a great many, it being ploughed in. There is but very little, if any sand, in any of our prairie farms, and to find a stone, would be the next thing to an impossibility. Ours is a great wheat country. I have notices in some of the Eastern papers that our wheat was the best in their markets. We have a great many Yankees out here whole or nearly whole settlements of them. Business is dull and times are pressing; but I think they are rather better than they were some time back. I will trouble you with any more of my scribblings at present, and should you see in these unconnected sentences any thing exceptionable in the least pass them by without reflection as I wrote under a very embarrassed state of mind. I sent those papers you received and have sent others I expect were directed wrong. We all send all our love and hope you or cousin John will write soon, as we would like to hear from you as often as you can make it convenient.

I remain your affectionate nephew,
Israel Sanderson

2007-03-13T19:52:00.000-06:00

SOME EARLY SPRINGFIELD LETTERS
Perry Slater Letter to Doct. Frank Milles, Dated March 2, 1847

C. Perry Slater was one of seventeen children of Elijah and Olive French Slater. The Slaters settled first on Sugar Creek in 1818 where they lived until 1821 when Springfield was laid out.

C. Perry (Slater), born September, 1823, in Springfield, Illinois, studied medicine with Dr. Jayne, spent three years in California, returned and was married in 1854 to Susan Mather Lamb. He was a practicing physician, and died in 1858 in Springfield, Illinois, leaving a widow and one child, Hannah M., who was married in Chicago, Sept. 27, 1876, to Walter Trumbull, eldest son of Hon. Lyman Trumbull. They reside in Chicago. C. P. Slater’s widow married James H. Roberts, a lawyer, and resides in Chicago, Illinois.[1]

Perry was 23 years-old when he wrote this letter.

Doct. Frank Mills
Jacksonville
Ills.

P.S. Wednesday Morning

Penn got home last night & is very well.

Tuesday evening March 2nd/47

Dear Frank

“Romeo is himself again.” The illustrious Legislature has ajourned and Springfield sleeps in the quiet moonlight as quietly as though its Legislative halls had not so recently been filled with vice and corruption Night is not now made hideous by the infurnal yells of a free peoples representatives and their midnight caucuses. All is still and quiet and our good city seems itself again. Tis a lovely night and I have just enjoyed a stroll alone thinking of “her” of th__ and building any castles of my future fate. How sweet it is thus to such solitude and think of those you love. I received your letter and can assure you it was doubly welcome and that I have patience sufficient to wade through ______ of such. I regret to hear of Doctor Millers unpopularity and hope never to hear “Yells infernal and haried” eminating from the mouths of students to insult a man so worthy as is the Doctor. I can only think of their conduct with contempt. Frank I have ever thought you a man of great sense and decided good taste. A man quick to discriminate a---- and appreciate too goodness beauty and perfection. The high estimate you have formed of Miss C----- character has stamped upon my opinion truth as eternal as truth itself. And Miss Ranick has taken a dislike to you and instigated her Brother to do you harm. Strange Strange She must be a poor judge of the nobleness of heart the magnaminity of such that makes the true man the sincere friend and the pleasant companion. How prospers Kate Abrams? Has she many admirers? I hope she is kindly treated as I admire her much. Did the___ come off on commencement nights. If so who conquered? I am glad to hear that Miss Conn is well enough to go into company again. I was sadly disappointed to find her so unwell when I was last down. I had hoped to have had the pleasure of bringing her up with me. Mr & Mrs Lamb start east via Beardstown on Wednesday. Your mother goes with them. Col. Prickett died yesterday with Plurisey.[2] Last Thursday he was in the house of Representatives acting as clerk. Old Lady Lamb is yet very ill.[3] “Pestitene” and his beautiful daughter Mary have returned. Doctor Turner has been here for two or three weeks. We had a splendid strangers Ball given by the citizens on the 22nd in the State house. I presume your Jacksonville Ball was but a minature in comparison. There was only between three and five hundred persons present and it only cost between three and five hundred dollars. Doctor Turner I was told had some difficulty in getting an invitation. One of the managers remarking that his room would be a d___d sight more pleasant than his company. He is thought here to be a soft one. A very particular friend of yours remarked to me just after dancing with the Dr. “that she did not think that a man who had the faculty for making himself disagreeable that the Doct has should be countenanced in society. Miss Sophy and Miss Torrey are flourishing. I had the exquisite felicity of spending last evening with them at Mr Stickneys room (the member from Gallatin) Miss Pope & Morrison are yet here. Lt Gov Welles as --nd stuck as _____and “____” _____________ after Miss Pope. It is believed that he will not succeed. P—a has not yet returned. He has been expected every day for the last week. Doctor Sister and Miss Trumball wish a place in your memory. Mr. Trumbull started for Bellville today. Remember me to Miss Eunice (?) & Miss Dunlap. Tell Bill I pay no attention to such contemptible notes as his last. Write soon long and often

Your sincere friend Perry
[1] Power, pp. 663-664.
[2] 1881 History, p. 91 and 125. Power, p. 581.
David Prickett, born on September 21, 1800, in Franklin County, Georgia, came to Edwardsville, Madison County, Illinois, in 18__. He graduated in the law department of Transylvania University, at Lexington, Kentucky, in his twenty-first year, and was admitted to practice at Edwardsville, November 15, 1821. He was Judge of the probate court of Madison County, and in 1826 was elected to the General Assembly of Illinois, at Vandalia. In 1831, he was aid-de-camp to Gen. John D. Whitesides, in the Black Hawk War. David Prickett was married on January 24, 1834, at Tremont, Tazewell County, Illinois, to Charlotte G. Grifith, who was born on May 9, 1806, in Chester County, Pennsylvania. She was a sister to Mrs. Hannah G. Opkycke, and daughter of Dr. Thomas Griffith, of Tremont, who was formerly of Pennsylvania. David and Charlotte Prickett moved to Springfield in 1835. David Prickett was the first reporter to the Supreme Court of Illinois, having been appointed to that office as soon as it was created. In 1842 he was appointed a director of the State Bank of Illinois, on behalf of the State. He was assistant clerk of the House of Representatives of Illinois at the time of his death. He was a man whose integrity was above suspicion, very genial, rich in anecdote, addicted to witticisms, frequently pointing them against himself. Every public man of Illinois knew him to speak kindly of him.
[3]

2007-03-13T19:48:00.000-06:00

Lincoln's Springfield

1860 Place Names

Academy of Springfield 1849 B.M., p. 5.
Alms House 1860 census, p. 404
Aristocracy Hill
Baptizing Hole northeast corner of Governor’s Mansion.
Bathing House D. King: south side of square.
Bullock’s Addition
Catholic Cemetery
Chenery House northeast corner of 4th and Washington.
City Grave Yard
City Hotel Joel Johnson
Cottage Hill area along Spring between Adams and Monroe Streets.
The Eagle Block. northwest corner of 6th and Washington.
Enterprise Building north side of Washington, between 4th and 5th.
Farmers’ Hotel 1849 B.M.m p. 7: a few doors west of W.P. Grimsley’s Strore
Forquer Grove George Forquer grove between 2nd and 3rd--1830 Prickett
Franklin Hotel 1849 B.M, p. 9: 6th Street north.
German Republic Boarding House northwest corner of Madison and 5th.
Grimsley’s Mill
Grove Temple, Capitol, p. 14.
Hoffman's Row extending northward from Washington on the west side of Fifth, and erected in 1835.
Hutchinson Cemetery West end of Adams Street.
Irwin’s Corner
Kessler’s Grove West end of Reynolds Street. Probably east of Walnut along Reynolds.
September 18, 1856: Late in the morning the inevitable procession formed and proceeded to the grove of P.P. Enos and A. Kessler northwest of the city. There, after one other speaker, Stephan A. Douglas took the stand. Angle, Here I Have Lived, pp. 218 to 219.
Klein’s Row west side of 5th between Madison and Mason (southwest corner of 5th and Mason)
Johnson Block north side of Washington, between 3rd and 4th.
J. L. Lamb’s Mill 1849 B.M., p. 9.
Lanphier Park
Market On Capital at 9th Street.
Manning House South Side of Monroe, between 4th and 5th.
Manning, G.S., proprietor.
Manning House, sw cor. Monroe and 5th.
Masonic Hall 5th and Monroe
Miller Building West Side of Square.
Lincoln and Herndon Law Offices on the 2nd floor, rear of this building.
Photo of the building on Lincoln's funeral day.
Newsomeville Now Thomas Lewis’ Third Addition
Old Brick Tavern 1849 B.M., p. 20.
Old Catholic Cemetery
Old Dickey Stand 1849 B.M., p. 5.
Old Indian Camping Ground P. P. Enos 1st Street on Madison St.
Porter’s Grove West Jefferson, near Walnut
Day by Day, p. 95. September 29, 1838: Two thousand Whigs and Conservatives celebrate Stuart’s election to Congress with barbecue at Porter’s Grove. Speeches are made by Lincoln, Stuart, May, Hardin, Servant, Bond, Baker, and Henry. Lincoln’s speech is “pithy in his own peculiar style and showed off some of the prominent features of Mr. Van Buren’s administration.” Alton Telegraph, Oct. 10.
Springfield Gas and Light Company West Washington.
The Cottage Greenleaf-Nurseryman & Florists: Washington, 1/2 mile east of State House.
The Shades above the Catholic Church and near the rail road: 1849 B.M, p. 16.: Monroe and 9th or thereabouts. southwest corner of 9th and Adams: Journal, Ag. 24, 1849.
Sleepy Hallow 1849 B.M., p. 20: 6th Street South.
Todd Square 1st to 2nd: North Side: Present (2007) site of State House Inn
Hotel and State of Illinois offices.
Tyndale Hill Lewis and Monroe Cormack, Rivers: Stuart. Built and lived in a cabin on Monroe, on part of Tyndale hill, but had ceased to occupy it when Stuart arrived in 1828
Union Row south side of Washington between 4th and 5th.
Vinegar Hill area bounded by the city limits on the west, Spriing street on the ease and Monroe and Edwards to the north and south.
Walnut Grove John B. Watson grove settled by him 1829 then Mather then State House.
Mather Property, 1849 B.M, p. 16.
Watson Grove settled by John B. Watson in 1829: then Mather; then State House grounds.
Watson Block Cook Street, between 9th and 10th.

Largest grove--present Gov. Mansion

B.M. = Business Men.

2007-03-12T16:55:00.000-06:00

LINCOLN’S SPRINGFIELD

1838

Richard E. Hart

Springfield Government

Charles R. Matheny President of Town Trustees

Charles R. Matheny was President of the Board of Trustees in the year 1838.

Trustees

The Town Trustees for the year 1838 were:

Samuel H. Treat
William Butler
Joseph Klein
Peleg C. Canedy
Philip C. Latham

JANUARY

Edward Mitchell’s Heirs Defendants in Chancery Suit

The January 20, 1838 Journal reported that the heirs of Edward Mitchell were defendants in a chancery suit.[1]

Abraham Lincoln Speaks Before The Young Men’s Lyceum

On January 27, 1838, Abraham Lincoln spoke before the Young Men’s Lyceum on the topic of “The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions”. His theme, the danger of mobs and the value and necessity of law and order, was probably prompted by the Alton riot which caused the death of Elijah P. Lovejoy in November, 1837, though he makes only slight reference to it.[2]

Abraham Lincoln Files Complaint: Cromwell v. Taylor

On Monday, January 29, 1838, Abraham Lincoln filed the complaint in Cromwell v. Taylor.[3]

Estate of Frank Shelby: Report of Sale of Real Estate

On January 30, 1838, James Frazier Reed, administrator of the estate of Frank Shelby reported to the court that on January 19, 1838, he had sold Frank’s west half of Lot No. Six (6) in Block No. Twelve 12 on East Washington Street to James Keyes, the highest bidder at $552. The property must have been improved with a residence as the sale price of $552 was much more than the price of a forty-foot lot. Keys gave two promissory notes for $275 each, the one payable in 6 and the other in 12 months together with a mortgage on the lot to secure the payment of the notes.[4]

William Herndon Leaves Illinois College and Returns to Springfield

On my return to Springfield from college, I hired to Joshua F. Speed as clerk in his store. My salary, seven hundred dollars per annum, was considered good pay. Speed, Lincoln, Charles R. Hurst, and I slept in the room upstairs over the store. I had worked for Speed before going to college, and after hiring to him this time again, continued in his employ for several years. The young men who congregated about the store formed a society for the encouragement of debate and other literary efforts. Sometimes we would meet in a lawyer’s office and often in Speed’s room. Besides the debates, poems and other original productions were read. Unfortunately we ruled out the ladies. ... I have forgotten the name of the society--if it had any---and can only recall a few of its leading spirits. Lincoln, James Matheny, Noah Rickard, Evan Butler, Milton Hay, and Newton Francis were members. I joined also. Matheney was secretary. We were favored with all sorts of literary productions.[5]

FEBRUARY

Election For Justice of Peace and Constable

On February 12, 1838, there was an election for justice of the peace and constable. Lincoln voted for Francis Taylor for justice of peace. Marvellous Eastham, Democrat, was elected 236 to 198. Lincoln voted for Edward Stapelford who was elected constable.[6]

Abraham Lincoln Announced as Candidate for State Legislature

On February 24, 1838, the Journal announced, “We are authorized to announce A. Lincoln, as a candidate for the State Legislature”.[7]

Elijah Ilesand Isaac, a Black Man

There are interesting 1838 documents relating to Elijah Iles and Isaac, the 46 year-old slave of Elijah Iles’ father, Thomas Iles of Bath County, Kentucky. Apparently Isaac was given his liberty by Thomas and in January of 1838 permitted to travel to Springfield to live with Elijah and his brother Washington. To secure safe passage, Thomas Isles wrote the following document, which was then filed by Elijah with the court upon Isaac’s arrival in Springfield.[8]

Please to let my Black Man Isaac pass on to Springfield, Sangamon County in the State of Illinois (in which place I have two sons living (to wit) Elijah and Washington Iles.

Given under my had this 1st day of January 1838.
Thomas Iles living in Bath County
and State of Kentucky.

Mon. Mar. 5, 1838. The following papers were presented by Elijah Iles and ordered to be spread upon the record.

Mathew Markland

Bath County, Ky.
Jan. 2, 1838

Dear Sir:

My black man Isaac is just about starting to Illinois. I have gave him his liberty, he will pass through Maysville and as he tells me he is acquainted with you I wish you to see the Capt. Of the Boat he goes on and let him know he is a free man and is going on to Springfield to my sons (to wit) Elijah and Washington Iles, if the boat should not be going on immediately from Maysville to St. Louis do speak to the Capt. To put him on some boat that will be going to St. Louis where he must land and take stage for Springfield. Isaac is very orderly honest fellow and has been as faithful a servant as ever lived for which reason I give him his liberty. Dear Sir, your compliance to this will ever oblige your friend,

Thos. Iles.

MB
Perhaps it would be well for you to give back to him this letter, it would strengthen his pass.

Maysville, Jan., 4 1838

This note from my friend Thos. Iles by his boy Isaac came to hand this day. It may be of service to boy Isaac to which allusion is made. I have known Maj. Thos. Iles for upwards of twenty years. I have seen him write and the within signature I believe to be his and the intentions of emancipating as expressed are his. I have known the bearer Isaac as long as I have known his master and also the sons of Major Iles (to wit) Elijah and Washington and know that they reside in or near Springfield, Illinois

Mathew Markland.

State of Kentucky ) Mayors office City of Maysville, to wit:
County of Mason )

I Chas. B. Williams, mayor of the city of Maysville do certify that the foregoing certificate of Mathew Markland is genuine and so acknowledged by him before me and I further certify that full faith and credit is due any statement that he has made relative to his knowledge of Thomas Iles. Given my hand and seal of office this 4th Jany. 1838,

Chas. B. Williams

Upon Isaac’s arrival in Springfield sometime in February of 1838, Elijah Iles filed the above documents with the County Commissioners Court and posted a bond to secure his promise to the State of Illinois that Isaac would not “become a charge to this or any other county in this state.”

Know all men by these presents that I Elijah Iles am held and firmly bound unto the People of the State of Illinois in the penal sum of one thousand dollars lawful money of the United States for the payment of which will and truly to be made I bind myself, my heirs, executors firmly by these presents. Witness my hand and seal this 20th day of February, 1838.

Now the condition of the above obligation is this that whereas I the said Elijah Iles have brought to the State of Illinois, Sangamon County, a black man by the name of Isaac about the age of 46 years who is now by the operation of the laws of this state emancipated now I do in pursuance of the 3rd Section of the Act of March 30, 1819 (GET THIS), bind myself that the said black man Isaac shall never become a charge to this or any other county in this state.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set
my hand and seal this day and year above written.

Elijah Iles.[9]

Theater Controversy

Moralists had not seriously challenged the amateur dramatics of the Thespian Society, but when professionals made their appearance there was consternation among them. Isherwood and MacKenzie, the experienced producers who fitted up the dining room of Major Iles’ new American House for a series of plays to commence in February, 1838, must have been aware of the criticism they would encounter, and doubtless had something to do with the newspaper puffs which began to appear-brief items calling attention to the way in which the theatrical company emphasized “the beauties of virtue and the hatefulness of vice.”[10]

To one such comment, signed “Philo Drama,” a writer in the Illinois Republican replied with an intemperate screed in which all the prejudices of the rigid moralists found expression. “I challenge Philo Drama to point to the spot where Christianity has looked with a tolerating eye upon the stage,” he proclaimed ... . . . it is a school of vice, a hotbed of iniquity, a pander to pollution and death. . . . Does Philo Drama wish Springfield to become what some of the eastern cities are-a sink of pollution, a hole of every foul spirit? The stage has always flourished in proportion to the increase of corruption and depravity in society. . . . The theatre, above all other places, is the spot where the bonds of virtue are first loosened, and finally dissolved.”

February 26,1838-March 24, 1838 Illinois Theatrical Company, Historical Journal, p. 160 Summer 2000

MARCH

Arrival of Sarah Amos and Daughter and Grandchild

Mrs. Sarah Amos, born on June 13, 1793 in Washington County, Maryland,[11] first married Phillip Swingley. They had two children and Mr. Swingley died. Mrs. Swingley was married the second time, August 2, 1810, to James Amos. They had two children, and James died February 6, 1823, in Maryland. Mrs. Amos came with her children to Sangamon County, arriving on March 1, 1838 in Springfield. Her children arriving with her were: Barbara E. Swingley and Barbara’s daughter, Virginia.[12]

Marriage of Joshua F. Amos and Julia A. Hay

On March 1, 1838, Joshua F. Amos married Julia A. Hay, daughter of John Hay.[13]

Jabez Capps’ Lots Sold For Taxes

The March 3, 1838 Journal reported that Jabez Capps’ lots had been sold for taxes.[14]

Mack Shelby’s Lots Sold For Taxes

On March 3, 1838, the Journal reported that lots of Mack Shelby were sold for taxes.[15]

Legal descriptions and location.

Titus Kirkpatrick’s Lots Sold For Taxes

On March 3, 1838, the Journal reported that Titus Kirkpatrick’s lots, located on the west side of 11th Street between Market (Capitol) and Jackson Streets, were sold for taxes.[16]

Luke Mayberry’s Lot Sold For Taxes

On March 3, 1838, the Journal reported that Luke Mayberry’s lot, located on the north side of Jefferson Street between Eighth and Ninth Streets, was sold for taxes.[17]

Reverend Jacob M. Early Murdered by Henry B. Truett

Early March, 1838, upon returning from a short visit to Alton, Irwin recorded: “Since I left here the Reverend Dr. Jacob M. Early (a friend of mine) was Shot by H.(enry) B. Truett, it has caused a great excitement and it is generally thought he will be hanged.”[18]

The Early killing was the outcome of a political quarrel. Truett was a son-in-law of William L. May. Early was a physician and Methodist exhorter. Both were Democrats. Friction between them arose when a Democratic convention at Peoria passed a resolution disapproving of Truett’s nomination as Register of the Land Office at Galena. Truett blamed Early for the censure.

On the evening of March 7, 1838, Truett entered the parlor of Spottswood’s Hotel in Springfield where Dr. Jacob M. Early and several other men were sitting. One by one the others left. When the last had gone, Truett asked Early if it were true, as he had been told, that he was the author of the Peoria resolution. Early declined to answer unless Truett gave him the name of his informant, which he refused to do. Hot words followed, Early picked up a chair to defend himself. Truett drew a pistol and pulled the trigger. Early fell, mortally wounded.

Trial 6 months later see Winkle, p. 244

Popular feeling was strong against Truett. Nevertheless, at the trial which took place six months later, the skillful defense of Stuart and Lincoln secured his acquittal.[19] “The evidence against him was clear and conclusive, “ Jared Irwin noted in disgust.

Birth of William K. Elliott

On March 13, 1838, Andrew and Zilpha H Elliott had a son, William K.[20]

William Moffett Tried for Murder

On ______, March 13, 1838, the Circuit Court selected a jury to try William Moffett for murder. On Friday, he was found guilty of manslaughter and ordered imprisoned for eight months.[21]

Citizens Sign Note to Pay Pledge for Completion of State Made to Obtain Capitol

Get description from C. W.

On March 22, 1838, 101 citizens of Springfield signed a note for $16,666.67 to the State Bank to enable the town to pay the second installment of one third of $50,000 pledged in February 1837 to obtain the capital.[22]

It was thought by many to be unreasonable to require a little town of eleven hundred inhabitants, struggling with the disadvantages of a new country, to pay the $50,000 pledged. During that special session, Hon. Stephen A. Douglas, then a member from Morgan county, proposed to bring in a bill, releasing Springfield from the payment of the same. The sterling honesty of Abraham Lincoln manifested itself on this, as on all other proper occasions. He interposed his objections, although he fully appreciated the kindly feelings that prompted the proposal, but he insisted that the money should be paid. Arrangements were entered into for paying it in three installments. The two first payments were made without any great difficulty; but the third pressed more heavily, as the financial crash that swept over the whole United States, while the new State house was in course of construction, impoverished many. Under these circumstances, it became necessary to borrow the money to make the last payment, from the State Bank of Illinois. A note for the amount was signed by one hundred and one citizens, and deposited with the bank, the money drawn, with which internal improvement scrip or stock was purchased and paid into the State treasury, thus paying the last installment in the State’s own evidence of indebtedness. From that time it was a matter between the State Bank and the citizens who signed the note. Soon after the note was given, the State Bank failed, and some of the payments were made in the depreciated paper of the bank, for which it had received par value when it was paid out. The following is a copy of the original note:

$16,666.67. SPRINGFIELD, March 22, 1838.

One year after date, we, the undersigned, or either of us, promise to pay to the President, Directors and Company of the State Bank of Illinois, sixteen thousand, six hundred and sixty-six dollars and sixty-seven cents, for value received, negotiable and payable at the bank, in Springfield, with interest until paid, at the rate of six per centum per annum, payable semi-annually.

John Hay, Thomas Mather, C. R. Matheny,
L. Higby, Tho. Houghan, William Butler,
Joseph Thayer, D. Prickett, P. C. Canedy,
William Thornton, J. Calhoun, Jos. Klein.
M. O. Reeves, Josiah Francis, P. C. Latham,
W. P. Grimsley, Washington Iles, A. G. Henry,
William Wallace, Joel Johnson, Ninian W. Edwards,
John B. Watson, C. B. Francis, John T. Stuart,
C. H. Ormsby, Wm. S. Burch, Jonas Whitney,
Moses Coffman, James M. Shackleford, Erastus Wright,
Geo. Pasfield, B. Ferguson, John Todd,
B. C. Webster, Benjamin Talbott, E. D. Baker,
S. M. Tinsley, Jesse Cormack, A. Lincoln,
Ephriam Darling, B. C. Johnson, Garrett Elkin,
Jona. Merriam, Thomas Moffatt, John Capps,
Ira Sanford, John F. Rague, Alexr. Garrett,
Charles Arnold, Simon Francis, Gershom Jayne,
John L. Turner, Nathaniel Hay, T. M. Neale,
Joshua F. Amos, Robert Irwin, William G. Abrams,
Sullivan Conant Virgil Hickox, Dewey Whitney,
And. McClellan, George Trotter, M. Mobley,
Alexander Shields, Stephen T. Logan, Foley Vaughn,
A. Trailor, Robert Allen, Abner Y. Ellis,
C. C. Phelps, James R. Gray, Nathaniel A. Rankin,
R. B. Zimmerman, J. Adams, S. H. Treat,
William Hall, J (I.). S. Britton, Elijah Iles,
James L. Lamb, W. B. Powell, Henry F. Luckett,
M. L. Knapp, F. C. Thompson, James P. Langford,
E. M. Henkle, Henry Cassequin,
James W. Keyes, J. M. Cabiness,
Wm. Porter, James Maxcy,
Wm. H. Marsh, Z. P. Cabaniss,
W. Ransdell, E. G. Johns,
Joshua S. Hobbs, Amos Camp,
John G. Bergen, Thos. J. Goforth,
Benjamin S. Clement, Benj. F. Jewett,
W. M. Cowgill.[23]

From a footing up of the principal and interest on one side of the note, the final settlement appears to have been made February 19, 1846. The principal and interest to that time was $17,918.

Fanny and Harriett Kincaid Admitted Into Membership inthe Indian Point United Presbyterian Church, Athens, Illinois

When the predominant local sentiment was pro-slavery the Session admitted two freed slaves, Fanny and Harriett, into the membership of the church in March of 1838. They had come north with the Kincaid family from Kentucky. Session minutes reveal that the church contributed support for the Freedmen Society and also continued after the Civil War to help finance schools which had been established in the south for former slaves.[24]

In March of 1835, Lincoln surveyed land about three miles northwest of Athens, Illinois for brothers Archibald and John K. Kincaid.[25]

James Wright Applies For Permit to Build Mill Dam on Brush Creek

On ________, James Wright applied to the County Commissioners’ Court for a permit to build a mill dam on Brush Creek.[26]

APRIL

Organization Of African (Colored) Baptist Church

On April 8, 1838, the Reverend John Livingston and 18 charter members organized the African Baptist Church in the home of Anderson Carter, located on West Washington Street then known as “Old Town” and often called “Vinegar Hill.” Livingston was an African-American missionary who at the time was also organizing African-American settlers into other area churches, including the Mount Emory Baptist Church in Jacksonville.[27] Reverend Luther Arnold was considered the pastor of the small congregation. Among the eighteen organizers were George W. Brent, Sr., Thornton Coleman, Maria Vance, Anna Butler, Frances Ellis, Saddie Demery, Winefred Huston, Joseph Huston, and Nancy Jackson.[28]

George Brent was born near Greenburg, Green County, Kentucky, July 2, 1821. His parents were both slaves, the property of Louis Patterson. George’s father secured his own freedom and later with the help of Reverend Brown raised enough money to buy George’s release. George by working in a blacksmith shop, paid the money back. He became pastor of the Zion Baptist Church in May 1865.[29] The 1881 History says he wasn’t here until 1857.

IS THERE A MEMBERSHIP LIST?

Simeon Francis Retires as Publisher of Journal

On April 28, 1838, Simeon Francis, then the sole proprietor of the Journal, retired.[30]

Arrival Of Reverend Charles and Louisa Walker Dresser and Family

In April of 1838, the 38 year-old Reverend Charles Dresser came to Springfield to act as Rector of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Charles, his wife, Louisa Walker Withers, and their two sons, David Walker and Thomas Withers,[31] came from Halifax Court House, Virginia to Illinois because he hated slavery.[32]

Reverend Dresser was born in Pomfret, Connecticut on February 24, 1800, graduated from Brown University in 1823 and was ordained in 1829 after studying theology in Virginia with Bishop William Meade.[33] Louisa Walker Withers Dresser, however, was a Southerner, born in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, and perhaps influenced the attitudes of the children more than the father.[34]

Real Estate Prices

In the summer of 1838 a Chicagoan asserted that real estate was as high as in his own speculative city, and cited as proof the fact that a lot on the public square, 20 by IS7 feet, had been sold at public auction for $1600 on the preceding day. Moreover, it was a boom which continued steadily, though not feverishly.[35]

SPRING

Arrival of Henry Van Hoff

Henry Van Hoff, born in 1804 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, came to Springfield in the Spring of 1838. He was a wagon and carriage maker in business with Obed Lewis.[36]

MAY

Arrival of Jacob and Catharine Shank Divelbiss and Family

Jacob Divelbiss,[37] born on March 29, 1797, in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, married there to Catharine Shank,[38] who was born on December 3, 1791, in Washington County, Maryland. They had three children while living in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, namely: Catherine, born on July 8, 1822,[39] and Noah and Amanda, born on February 3, 1829.[40] In April, 1838, the family left their home in Pennsylvania, and traveled from Pittsburgh by water to Beardstown, Illinois. Jacob and his son Noah walked from there to Springfield, the family following in a haack, and arrived on May 1, 1838. After arriving in Springfield, Jacob rented for three years. Jacob learned the wagon-maker’s trade in his native county, and prosecuted the business in Springfield for many years.[41]

Arrival of Noah Divelbiss

On May 1, 1838, Noah Divelbiss, born on November 28, 1824, in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania arrived with his parents in Springfield.[42]
Arrival of Samuel and Ann Rogers Grubb and Family
On May 10, 1838, Samuel and Ann Rogers Grubb and their family arrived in Springfield. Samuel was born on May 16, 1794, in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Ann Rogers Grubb was born about 1798 in Pennsylvania. They were married in Perry County, Pennsylvania, and had six living children there, and moved to Madison County, Illinois, in 1836. Their son, Henry B., born on July 31, 1820, arrived with them.[43]

Rhoda Jane, A Girl Of ColourIndenture ToCharles Dresser

On May 26, 1838, a month after Dresser’s arrival in Springfield, this son of New England and graduate of Brown University entered into an indenture for the domestic labor of a 15 year-old Black girl, Rhoda Jane. Rhoda had no parent or guardian in Illinois and was to be taught the “art and mystery of domestic labour” and to read. She was to be released from her indenture on her 18th birthday, August 25, 1840, at which time she was to be given a new bible and two new suits of clothes suitable and proper for summer and winter wear.[44]

Was Rhoda previously owned by Gershom Jayne, and thus her last name?
Did Rhoda Live In The Lincoln Home?

Rhoda Jane a girl of colour
Apprentice to Charles Dresser[45]

This Indenture of apprenticeship made this 26th day of May 1838

Witnesseth that Rhoda a girl of colour aged 15 years on the 25th day of August 1837 having no parent or guardian within this state of her own consent and agreement and by and with the approbation of the Probate Justice of the Peace in and the county of Sangamon herein endorsed hath put placed and bound herself apprentice to Charles Dresser -- of Sangamon county in the State of Illinois to learn the art and mystery of domestic labour ------ and with him the said Charles Dresser to dwell continue and serve from the date hereof until the said Rhoda shall attain the full age of eighteen years during all which time the said apprentice her said master well and faithfully shall serve his lawful secrets and commands shall keep and obey Hurt to her said master or his she shall not do nor suffer it to be done by others if in her power to prevent the goods of her said master she shall not embezzle waste or lend without her masters consent from the service of her said master she shall not absent herself without leave Taverns alehouses tipling shops or houses of ill fame she shall not frequent Matrimony she shall not contract But in all things -- shall well and faithfully demean herself towards her said master and all his as becomes an obedient faithful apprentice during all her term of service aforesaid.

And the said Charles Dresser---on his part agrees that he will during all the term of service of his said apprentice find and allow unto her good holesome and sufficient meat drink washing lodging and apparel suitable and proper for such an apprentice and needful medical attention in case of sickness and will cause her to be instructed in the best way and most approved manner of common domestic housework and will cause her to be taught to read write and the ground rule of arithmetic (stricken through) and at the expiration of her term of service will give unto her a new bible and two new suits of clothes suitable and proper for summer and winter wear

Witness our hands and seals the day and year first above written

Her
Rhoda Jane X
mark
Charles Dresser

I approve the above binding J. Adams, P.J. P. S. C.

Arrival of Obed Lewis

Bachelor Obed Lewis, born on April 25, 1812, in Galigerville, Chester County, Pennsylvania, came to Springfield in 1838.[46] He was the son of William Lewis, a farmer, and Margaret Lewis, natives of Chester County, Pennsylvania. Obed received his education in the common schools of Chester County. When Obed was fourteen years old, his father died. At the age of sixteen, Obed began to learn carriage making in New Holland, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and continued there four years; and then completed his trade in Philadelphia. He then worked at his trade in Chester, Pennsylvania, Wilmington, Delaware; then in Danville, Virginia, for one year, and Milton one year; and then returned to Philadelphia, in 1835, and carried on his business in that city and Lancaster, Pennsylvania, until May 1838, when he came to Springfield and pursued his business.[47]

JUNE

Abraham Lincoln Purchases Lots From Elijah Iles

Lincoln’s next venture in Springfield real estate took place on June 2, 1838, when he paid Elijah Iles and his wife $300 for Lots twelve and thirteen in Block seven, Elijah Iles’ Addition to the Town of Springfield. ...The lots were in the center of the block across the street from the property which Lincoln purchased in 1844 for his home. Both of these lots he retained for a number of years.[48]

George W. Chatterton, Sr. Arrives and Opens Jewelry Store
In June 1838, George W. Chatterton, Sr. opened a jewelry store on the west side of Fifth Street between Washington and Adams. George was born in Ithica New York and served an apprenticeship to the jewelry trade in New York City.[49]

JULY

July 4th Banquet

Dr. James R. Gray Vice President of July 4th Banquet

The July 7, 1838 Journal reported that Dr. James R. Gray was vice president of the July 4th banquet.[50]

Birth of Hannah M. Lamb

July 6, 1838[51]

Arrival of Jason C. Henkle

Jason C. Henkle, born on October 10, 1820, in Pendleton County, Virginia, came to Springfield on July 8, 1838

Dr. Garrett Elkin and Abraham Lincoln Sign Letter of Recommendation

On July 25, 1838, Dr. Garrett Elkin signed a letter with Abraham Lincoln and others to Joseph Duncan recommending person for Commissioner of Public Works of Illinois.[52]

Dr. James R. Gray Chairman of Springfield Citizens Meeting

The July 28, 1838 Journal reported that Dr. James R. Gray was chairman of a Springfield citizens meeting.[53]

AUGUST

August 6, 1838 Election
Abraham Lincoln Elected to Legislature for Third Time

On August 6, 1838, Lincoln was re-elected to the legislature, leading the field of 17 candidates. He voted for Cyrus Edwards for governor, and for William H. Davidson against Joseph Anderson for lieutenant-governor. Neither won. John T. Stuart defeated Stephen A. Douglas by 36 votes in a total of 36,495 for Congress.[54]

Marriage of Peleg C. Canedy and Sarah Camp

On August 8, 1838, Peleg C. Canedy, who had arrived in Springfield in December of 1830, married in Morgan County, Illinois, to Sarah Camp, who was born January 1815, in Vermont.[55]

Arrival of Henry S. and Sarah Van Patten Frazee

Henry S. Frazee, born on April 16, 1811, in Monmouth County, New Jersey, and Sarah Van Patten Frazee, arrived in Springfield on August 9, 1838 in company with Sarah’s father. They were married on November 5, 1836 in Somerset County, New Jersey. They settled 1 ½ miles south of Farmingdale.[56]

Birth of John E. Trotter

On August 10, 1838, George and Mary Ward Trotter had a son, John E.[57]

Arrival of Thomas S. Little

In August 1838, Thomas S. Little, born March 16, 1830, in Northampton, Massachusetts, came to Springfield.[58]

SEPTEMBER

Julia Ann Indentured to Daniel Cutright

There are two most interesting indentures found in the Sangamon County Commissioners Records pertaining to Daniel Cutright and two of the slaves he brought with him to Springfield in 18__. The slaves are to remain indentured to Cutright for two more years, during which time Cutright is allowed to hire them out and is entitled to the payments for any such hire. At the end of the indenture term, they are to be free.

Springfield, September 4th, 1838

Court met pursuant to adjournment. Present as yesterday.

Daniel Cutright presented to the Court the two following indentures and requested that they should be spread upon the Record.

This indenture made and entered into this 31st day of August 1838 between Daniel Cutwright of the County of Sangamon and State of Illinois of the one part and Julia Ann a woman of Color, Witnesseth. That whereas heretofore Daniel Cutwright brought the said Julia Ann who was then a slave the property of Said Cutright to the State of Illinois and has since resided with said Ann in the said State of Illinois by reason whereof the said Julia Ann claims a right to her freedom. Now for the settlement of all controversy, it is agreed that the said Julia Ann shall serve the said Daniel Cutright for the term of two years as follows: She is to live with the said Cutright from now until the 25th day of December next and after that time until the expiration of two years from this date the said Cutright is to hire out said Ann at some good place where She may select provided he can at such place get fair wages for her and he to be entitled to her hire for that time. And at the expiration of said term of two years the said Daniel Cutright is bound to give her up and suffer her for the remainder of her life to go be and remain free and unmolested and the said Cutright binds himself not to remove said Julia Ann from Sangamon County.

Attest

Given under our hands and seals this 31st day of August 1838

S. T. Logan Daniel Cutright

her
Julia + Ann
mark

Tuesday Sept. 4, 1838

State of Illinois )
Sangamon County )

Before me the undersigned Clerk of the Sangamon County Commissioners Court personally came Daniel Cutright and Julia Ann a woman of Color who are known to me to be the real persons who and in whose name the foregoing instrument of writing was executed and acknowledged their signatures thereto to be their free and voluntary act and deed for the purpose therein expressed.

Given under my hand and seal of office this 1st Sept. 1838
C. R. Matheny Clk.[59]

Major Indentured to Daniel Cutright

Tues. Sept. 4, 1838

This Indenture made and entered into this 31st day of August 1838 between Daniel Cutright of the County of Sangamon and Major a man of color Witnesseth. That whereas the said Daniel Cutright heretofore brought the said Major who was then a slave the property of said Cutright in the said State of Illinois by reason whereof the said Major claims a right to his freedom. Now for the settlement of all controversy it is agreed that the said Major shall serve the said Daniel Cutright faithfully for the term of two years as follows, he is to live with said Cutright from now until the 25th day of December next and after that time until the expiration of two years from this date the Said Cutright is to hire out said Major at some good place if he chooses within the limits of Sangamon County and is to receive the hire for the time above specified and at the expiration of the said term of two years the said Daniel Cutright is bound to give him up and suffer him for the remainder of his life to go, be and remain free and unmolested and the said Cutright binds himself not to remove said Major out of the limits of Sangamon County.

Given under our hands and seals this day and date above written

Daniel Cutright

his
Major X
mark

State of Illinois
Sangamon County

Before me, the Undersigned, Clerk of the Sangamon County Commissioners Court personally came Daniel Cutright and Major a man of color who are known to me to be the real persons who and in whose name there foregoing instrument of writing was executed and acknowledged their signatures thereto to be their free and voluntary act and deed for the purpose therein expressed.
Given under my hands and seal this 1st Sept. 1838
C. R. Matheny Ck.[60]

Death of George Forquer

George Forquer died on September 12, 1838.[61]

Mormons Pass Through Springfield on Way to the West

September 15, 1838. Today a caravan or company of ‘Mormons’ with 67 wagons numbering about 800 Souls passed through this place on their way (as they say) to the ‘Promised Land’ west of Mississippi. The sight was quite imposing.[62]

Resolution of Sangamon Presbytery Re Slavery
September 23, 1838

Mr. Galt offered the following resolutions which were adopted. 1st That the system of Slavery as it exists in the United States, is a sin against God and therefore ought to be immediately abolished. 2nd That it be recommended to all churches under the care of this Presbytery to do all that is in their power by wise and prudent means to accomplish this object…[63]

The following appeared in the September 29, 1838 edition of the Journal:

Presbytery of Sangamon, at its late session, held in Irish Grove, passed the following resolutions--

1. That slavery, as it exists in the United States’ is a sin against God, and therefor ought to be immediately abandoned.

2. As amended by brother Whitney that the Presbytery recommend to all the Churches under their care, to do all in their power for the accomplishment of this object.

Mr. Editor--The above resolutions refer to a subject of deep interest to our churches you will therefore by publishing them in your paper, confer a favor upon them, and your’s truly
T. GALT.[64]

Potawatomi Indians Pass Through Springfield

On Saturday, September 29, 1838, “at as early hour as possible” over 800 Potawatomi Indians moved through the town of Springfield along “wayfares…crowded with anxious spectators”. The passed on foot, escorted by Federal dragoons, on a government–ordered march to Kansas. Known as the “Trail of Death” in the tribe’s history now, the trek was taking them from their homes in Indiana to be resettled well beyond the Mississippi. The march through Springfield was led by tribal chief I-O-Weh. The agent accompanying them and the chief persuaded the Potawatomis to dress as finely as they were able, and they passed through the streets with as much of “a degree of pride” as they possibly could.[65]

September 30. Today a remnant of the Tribe of Potawatomie Indians passed through town on their journey to their new homes west of the Mississippi. . . . The number was about 800 souls, each one having a horse (save the sick, they being in wagons.)[66]

Whigs Celebrate Stuart’s Election to Congress in Porter’s Grove

On Saturday, September 29, 1838, two thousand Whigs and Conservatives celebrated John Todd Stuart’s election to Congress with a barbecue at Porter’s Grove. Speeches were made by Lincoln, Stuart, May, Hardin, Servant, Bond, Baker and Henry.[67]

OCTOBER

Organization of First Methodist Episcopal Church

“a meeting of the Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Springfield Station” was held on October 8, 1838 “for the purpose of assuming a name, and electing trustees, and doing other acts in accordance with the provisions” of the law. The Society took the name “The Methodist Episcopal Church in the Town of Springfield, Illinois.” The trustees, empowered to hold property (not more than five acres), were elected by the membership for five-year terms.

The first Board of Trustees elected in this manner consisted of Edmund B. Roberts, Charles R. Matheny, James F. Reed, John Dickey, Hosea J. Armstrong, Enos M. Henkle, and John A. Bennett. They chose Matheny for president, and Bennett as secretary, and Dickey as treasurer.[68]

Titus Kirkpatrick And William Butler Form Barbering Partnership

The October 13, 1838 Journal reported that barbers Titus Kirkpatrick and William Butler had formed a partnership.[69]

BARBEROUS NOTICE

W. BUTLER & T. KIRKPATRICK.

HAVE formed a partnership for the purpose of carrying on the barbering business wholesale and retail. Mr. Butler is from Washington city, and is a practiced barber. The skill of Mr. B united with mine, will enable us to do justice to our customers. Our shop is opposite the Clerk’s Office and next door to R. H. Bea(ch) clothing store

September 19, 1838

Birth of Jacob M. Early, Jr.

On October 26, 1838, Dr. Jacob M., who had been murdered the previous March, and Catharine Rickard Early had a son, Jacob M., Jr.[70]

FALL

Arrival of William and Janette Blacklock Harrower

William Harrower, born on August 20, 1808, in Stirling, Scotland, came to New York City in 1833 and returned to Scotland in about three years. He then returned in the company of a number of Scotch people, including his future wife. On May 9, 1838, in New York City, he married Janette Blacklock, who was born on June 18, 1809, in Lockerbie, Scotland. They moved to Springfield, arriving in the fall of 1838. William was a stone mason and worked on the Capitol. He completed it by building the porticos. He was a minister of the Presbyterian church.[71]

Harrower had been born in Stirling, Scotland, on August 20, 1808 and came to the United States in 1838 to work on the State House. He was a stonemason and stonecutter by trade. He held membership in the First Presbyterian Church of Springfield and functioned as a trustee.[72]

Arrival of William C. Foley

In the fall of 1838, William C. Foley, born June 16, 1808, in Prince William County, Virginia, came to Springfield.[73]

NOVEMBER

Eight Miles of Northern Cross Railroad Completed

On November 8, 1838, the first eight miles of track were completed on the Northern Cross Railroad running east out of Meredosia. The first locomotive west of the Alleghenies and north of the Ohio River made a trial trip with a ceremony.[74]

American House Opened by Elijah Iles

In 1838 Elijah Iles built the American House on the southeast corner of Sixth and Adams Streets. Its size alone created a sensation. When it was opened, on November 26, 1838, two hundred citizens dined with the manager, J. Clifton, “late of Boston.”

American House, considered finest three-story brick hotel west of the Alleghenies, was opened with a brilliant dinner attended by 200 guests. Lincoln probably attended.[75]

An Ohio editor wrote:

“Near the State House, he wrote, “is a gigantic building, called the American House, intended perhaps as the tavern proper for the Legislators.-Politics and politeness hover round this splendid affair. Everything inside puts you in mind of the Turkish splendor, the carpeting, the papering, and the furniture, weary the eye with magnificence. The building itself is distinguished more for the harmony and simplicity of its proportions, than the richness of its exterior. A fine place for those who are troubled with a superabundance of silver.”[76]

(GET PHOTO)

American HouseBuilt by Elijah Iles in 1837-1838

Arrival of John and Ann St. Clair Way and Two Daughters

John Way, born on September 11, 1793, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Ann St. Clair Way, born on August 16, 1803, in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and their two daughters: Rebecca, born on May 11, 1828, in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and Rachel E., born on June 19, 1824, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, arrived in Springfield in November, 1838. In the Spring of 1838, Mr. Way took his family to Chester County, and left them there while he visited the western country. He decided to make Springfield his home, and wrote to his wife to come on with the family. She learned of a gentleman by the name of Clendening who was coming west to visit a married daughter. He drove a light wagon, and Mrs. Way made arrangements to come and bring her two children. John Way rode on horseback to Paris, Edgar County, Illinois, and met them there. The whole party arrived at Springfield in November 1838. Mr. Way was a plasterer, and the public buildings and other improvements here called for his services.[77]

DECEMBER

Marriage of William H. Talbott and Matilda Enyart

On December 3, 1838, 21 year-old William H. Talbott married in Sangamon County to Matilda Enyart.[78]

Jared Irwin Resolves to Leave Springfield and Makes Observations About Natives

December 14. Today my Nephew M. V. B. Ash, returned again to Alton. He has been in my employment for 2 months past. I am now alone, without a relative in the place & have but very little respect for the Natives; for I prove many of them to be not very honourable in their dealings, & I have now made up my mind conclusively to leave here in the Spring. I love all persons with Large capacious souls; & in the society of such, I am perfectly at home; but there are many here whose souls appear to be composed of a piece of Nothing whittled down to a point, ---pride & ignorance combined, is a true characteristic of the succors, especially in the towns and villages, --yet there are a few exceptions & but few.[79]

Birth of Emma R. Bennett

On December 18, 1838, Reverend William T. and Rebecca J. Roberts Bennett had a daughter, Emma R.[80]

Marriage of Allen Francis and Cecila B. Duncan

On December 25, 1838, Allen Francis, born in Connecticut circa 1816, married Cecila B. Duncan, born in Glasgow, Scotland circa 1817 and sister of David Duncan, who was drowned in attempting to cross the Sangamon river on horseback in 1837. [81]

Jared Irwin Hears Lectures of Dr. Perry

Dec. 25 (Christmas) For 3 nights past, I have been greatly entertained with a course of lectures to the young by Rev. Dr. Perry, formerly of Phila. But now President of a college in this State. His lectures were very edefying –he was eloquent.[82]

Temperance Meeting

This being the last night of the year, we held a Temperance Meeting in town, address by Mr. Denman, Merchant of Phila. (being here on Business). It was good & I for the first time attached my name to a “Temperance Pledge.” The temperance cause I have always been favourable to & my objections to joining it hitertoo has been that however good in its original desighn, that desighn in great measure has been lost sight of, & I feared it was now intended more for “Political” purposes than for the extermination of this balefull practice, a\& again, the Church to which I have had the high privilege of being associated for more than 10 years, I consider in every sence of the word a temperance society, therefore useless to join another. But, perhaps I am in error, & knowing it can do me no harm (May be much good), & having a desire at all times to do good & believing good may result from the Popular Temperance Society, ---J. P. Irwin[83]

Departure of Alexander and _____ Graham

At the end of 1838, Alexander Graham and his wife went back for a visit to Marion, Alabama, his wife’s home, and remained there until his death.[84]

UNKNOWN MONTHS

Arrival of Lizette Abel and Calvin Peabody and Family

Lizette Abel Peabody, the daughter of Roswell and Betsy Mason Abel, was born on December 4, 1809, in Granville, Washington County, New York. She married on October 1829, in Essex County, New York, to Calvin Peabody. Charles P., a son was born on February 25, 1837 and a daughter Helen, born on January 28, 1835 in Granville, Washington County, New York. The family came to Springfield in 1838.

Oramel and Judith W. Davis Clark Move to Springfield

Oramel Clark, born on August 11, 1792, in Lebanon, Connecticut, was taken by his parents to Berkshire County, Massachusetts, in 1792, and from there to Cooperstown, New York. He enlisted and served as a non-commissioned officer in the War of 1812, and moved to St. Lawrence County, New York in 1817. He emigrated in 1818 to Kaskaskia, Illinois, and in 1819 removed to where Athens, Menard County, now stands. He was the third man who settled on the north side of Sangamon River. In 1820, he returned on foot to visit his parents in New York. On returning to his home in Illinois, he married Jane C. Stewart, on Fancy Creek, in Sangamon County. In 1821, he bought the preempted right to a farm from John Dixon (afterwards founder of Dixon, Ill.) on Fancy Creek, ten miles from Springfield. He remained here until the death of his wife, in 1832, when he again visited his parents in New York, returning to Illinois in 1834. Oramel Clark was married the second time on October 28, 1836, to Judith W. Davis, of Elkhart, Illinois. She was born August 12, 1802, in Union County, Kentucky. They moved to Springfield in 1838, and had five children.[85]

Arrival of David G. Council

David G. Council, born on January 15, 1817, in Montgomery County, Tennessee, came to what is now Christian County, Illinois then to Sangamon County in the fall of 1830. He came to Springfield in 1838. David G. Council was the pioneer of stair building in Springfield, and foreman for Hannan & Ragsdale.[86]

Arrival of Henry C. Myers

Henry C. Myers, born on December 6, 1817, in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, came to Springfield in 1838. He was a grocer and then changed to confectionery.[87]

Lawrason Levering Builds House at Second and Edwards Streets

In 1838 Lawrason Levering built a house, just south of Ninian Edwards’ house. With exception of the northeast corner of Spring and Edwards, where the Edwards school stood, the property comprised a full block on Second Street and extended back two blocks to Spring Street-one of the largest single residence properties in Springfield.[88]

Lawrason Levering Residence at Second and Edwards Streets- Built in 1838

Proposal For Resuming The Weekly Publication OfThe Genius Of Universal EmancipationSubscription Agreement

DATE?
A subscription agreement to The Genius of Universal Emancipation, an abolitionist publication edited by Benjamin Lundy, was found among the manuscript papers of Erastus Wright in the Illinois State Historical Library.[89] Carl Sandburg describes Lundy as “The meek, mild, soft-spoken little Quaker, Benjamin Lundy, editing a paper with the meek, mild, soft-spoken title, “The Genius of Universal Emancipation,” was beaten by a Baltimore mob.”[90] Apparently Wright was soliciting subscribers to the publication pursuant to the prospectus to which the subscriptions were attached. ,

One can only speculate as to the reason or reasons one would subscribe to this paper. One would assume that a subscriber would be sympathetic to the paper’s abolitionist creed. But there may have been other reasons. For example, friendship with the solicitor of subscriptions or just intellectual curiosity. Also, one might be on the other side of the issue and just be curious as to how the opposition presented its case in its official voice. Piecing together what is known of each of the subscribers helps to reach a conclusion as to which of these reasons motivated the subscription and gives greater insight into the position of each subscriber on the question of slavery and abolition. The subscribers were as follows:

C. H. Ormsby.
Joseph Torrey.
I. C. Bancroft. Isaac Bancroft.[91]
Geo. Strickland
R. Abel Roswell P. Abel[92]
C. C. Shelby.
T. Moffett Thomas Moffett[93]
J. B. Watson John B. Watson[94]
J. L. Lamb James L. Lamb[95]
Erastus Wright
L. Kirkpatrick
J. F. Amos Joshua F. Amos[96]
R. P. Abell
O Hempstrode
C. B. Francis Calvin B. Francis[97]
J. Francis Josiah Francis[98]
John E. Roll John Eddy Roll[99]
E. R. Colson
Robert D. Cannon
A. Summers Andrew Summers
Planck
Polk
Dean

Subscription Agreement to the “Genius of Universal Emancipation”Circulated by Erastus Wright.

Name
Age In 1838
Origin
Occupation
Religion
Residence
Joshua F. Amos
26
Washington County, Maryland

Isaac Bancroft
62
Boston,
Massachusetts
Didn’t arrive until 1839

Robert D. Cannon

E. R. Colson

Josiah Francis
34
Wetherfield, Connecticut
established Journal newspaper
county legislator-1840
sheriff
Mayor

L. Kirkpatrick

James L. Lamb
38
Connellsville, Fayette County,
Pennsylvania
pork packer
First Presbyterian Church

Thomas Moffett
41
Bath County, Kentucky
school teacher
lawyer
county judge
Second Presbyterian Church

C. H. Ormsby

John Eddy Roll
24
Green Village,
New Jersey
plasterer and brick mason
real estate; home building
boot and shoe trade

C. C. Shelby

George Strickland
26
Amherst, Massachusetts

Andrew Summers

Joseph Torrey
50
Connecticut
boots & shoes,
hotel keeping
pork packer with James L. Lamb

John B. Watson
38
York District,
South Carolina
teacher, county surveyor,
engineer, Great Western R.R.
Second Presbyterian Church

Erastus Wright
59
Bernardstown, Massachusetts
teacher,
county school commissioner
abolitionist
Second Presbyterian Church

[1] Journal, January 20, 1838, p. 3, cl. 1.
[2] Day by Day, p. 84. C.W., I, pp. 108-115. Lincoln and Herndon, p. 9.
[3] Weik Mss. Nos. 24. Day by Day, p. 118.
[4] Hostick Collection.
[5]
[6] Day By Day, p. 84. Election Returns.
[7] Sangamo Journal, Februray 24, 1838. Day By Day, p. 85.
[8] Manuscript File of Elijah Iles, Manuscript Division, Illinois State Historical Library, Springfield, Illinois.
[9] County Commissioners Court, v. 4, p. 2. March 5, 1838. IRAD.
[10] Angle, p. 80.
[11] (6/13/1793-2/15/1847)
[12] Power, pp. 16 and 81-82.
[13] Power, p. 82.
[14] Journal, March. 3, 1838, p. 2, cl. 7.
[15] Journal, March 3, 1838, p. 2, cl. 7.
[16] Journal, March 3, 1838, p. 3, cl. 5. Block 20 Lot 13 E. Iles’ Addition.
[17] Journal, March 3, 1838, p. 3, cl. 5. Block 30 Lot 6 Old Town Plat.
[18] Angle, p. 77.
[19] In the Illinois State Register for Nov. 17, 1855 is to be found a footnote to this episode: “H. B. Truett, formerly of this state, fought a duel with Ashton E. Smith, at San Francisco, on the 19th ult. Smith was slightly wounded, and Truett’s trousers were torn. This is the same Truett who, eighteen years ago, killed Dr. Early, in this city.”
[20] Power, p. 284. (3/13/1838-5/2/1865)
[21] Day By Day, p. 86.
[22] Day By Day, p. 87. C. W., I, p. 116.
[23] 1881 History, p. 49.
[24] The Sesquicentennial of The Indian Point United Presbyterian Church of Athens, Illinois, May 20, 1831-May 20,1982.
[25] CW, v.1, p. 37.
[26] Day By Day, p. 85. C. W., I, p. 116.
[27] Journal, April 28, 1995, p. 9, cl. 2, “African-American church to be commemorated.”
[28] Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 145th Anniversary, Bulletin, dated April 24, 1983.
[29] 1881 History, p. 737. Wood Manuscript, pp. 2-3.
[30] 1881 History, p. 215.
[31] Born in Halifax county, Virginia, January 11, 1837. Was educated principally at Jubilee College in Peoria county, Illinois, under the supervision of Bishop Chase, the founder of the school. When twenty-three years of age he attended two courses of lectures at Louisiana Medical College, and afterwards attended one course at the New York University, where he graduated with honors in March, 1864. He married Miss Margaret Dorenus, daughter of the Rev. Dr. John E.C. Dorenus, a graduate at Princeton College, and an intimate friend of Abraham Lincoln. They have one child, Katherine. After graduating in New York, the Doctor came to Springfield, established himself in his practice, and has remained ever since.
[32] Prophet, p. 393.
[33] Power, pp. 268-269. Charles Dresser (1800-3/1865). Home, p. 2. Hickey, James, Dressers of Springfield, Journal of Illinois State Historical Society-1982-4. 1881 History, p. 659.
[34] Prophet, p. 394.
[35] Angle, p. 88.
[36] Power, p. 740.
[37] (1797-2/11/1876)
[38] (12/3/1791-8/18/1875)
[39] Was married there April, 1838, to Richard Hodge. See his name.
[40] Power, p. 253. 1881 History, p. 658.
[41]
[42] 1881 History, p. 658.
Power, p. 253.
[43] Power, p. 345.
[44] I find no entry for the Dresser family in the 1840 census of Springfield. Were they here in 1850?
[45] See, page__.
[46] Power, p. 453.
[47] 1881 History, p. 689.
[48] Personal Finances, Pratt, p. 60.
[49] 1881 History, pp. 519, 651 and 635. Drawing of building. Three story. Two stories of the building, twenty by one hundred and forty feet, are occupied by his store.
[50] Journal, July 7, 1838, p. 1, cl. 7.
[51] Power, p. 436.
[52] C.W.: v. I, p. 121.
[53] Journal, July 28, 1838, p. 2, cl. 2.
[54] Day By Day, p. 93.
[55] Z. Enos: Snow Birds.
[56] Power, p. 317.
[57] Power, p. 724. Married Sept. 14, 1865, to Martha L. Slates, who was born July 19, 1844, in Zanesville, Ohio. They had six children, five of whom died young. Clara A. resides with her parents in Springfield.
[58] Power, p. 461.
[59] County Commissioners Records, 4th Vol. (1833-40) Vo. D 655 p.443-444. IRAD.
[60] County Commissioners Records, 4th Vol. (1833-40) Vo. D 655 p.443-444. IRAD.
[61] 1881 History, p. 80.
[62] Angle, p. 78 Jared Irwin’s Diary.
[63] Sangamon Presbytery (Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.) Minutes, Vol. 1, 1831-1847, pp. 89-90. Presbyterian Historical Society, 425 Lombard Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
[64] Journal, September 29, 1838, p. 2, cl. 7.
Thomas Galt was licensed to preach the gospel in 1835. He preached for a few months in Peoria and then accepted the call to become Pastor of the Farmington Church (now the Farmingdale Church) in Sangamon County, Illinois. He purchased a farm there at $2.00 per acre. One of the first things he did was to set apart three acres of ground for a church and cemetery. A church building, largely of oak and walnut lumber was soon erected and he mixed and carried the mortar for laying the brick. He remained pastor of this church for five years when, owing to the division of the Presbyterian church into what was known as the “old School” and “New School”, he resiged, and in July 1842 became pastor of the North Sangamon Church in connection with the Irish Grove Church. A Story of Ancestors That Tried To Serve The Lord, typed manuscript in the library of Westminster Presbyterian Church, Springfield, Illinois.
[65] Daly, John Removal of the Potawatomi, Sangamon County Historical Society, Historico, September1999.
[66] Angle, p. 78. Jared Irwin’s Diary.
[67] Day by Day, p. 152. Alton Telegraph, October 10, 1838.
[68] First Methodist Church, Piersel, p. 6.
[69] Journal, October 13, 1838, p. 3, cl. 4.
[70] Power, p. 613.
[71] Power, pp. 19 and 360-361.
[72] Temple, Capitol, p. 85. Power, p. 360.
[73] Power, p. 304.
[74] Day By Day, p. 97. Ihi—Journal, XXVIII, p. 6.
[75] Day By Day, p. 98.
[76] Angle, 87.
[77] Power, p. 756.
[78] (____-3/16/1855) Power, p. 702. They had six children, four died young.
[79] Jared Irwin Diary, Manuscript in the Illinois State Historical Library, Springfield, Illinois.
[80] Power, p. 111.
[81] 1881 History, pp. 217, 299 & 566. Power, p. 316.
In October, 1861 President Lincoln appointed him consul to Victoria, Vancouver’s Island. He left for that point on February, 1862, and resigned in 1871.
1860 census, p. 172 (Conn.)(44). 0/$100.
Collected Works: v. II, p. 61, 188; v. IV, p. 90
[82] Jared Irwin Diary.
[83] Jared Irwin Diary.
[84] Ministers of the First Christian Church, p. 40.
[85] Power, p. 204. Oramel Clark died Sept. 9, 1863, in Springfield, and his widow resides with her children.
Emeline (Ill.)(21). (1839)
Martha (Ill.)(19). (1841)
1860 C.D.: 80 S. 9th, cor. of Edwards Susan (Ill.)(19(4?).
1860 census, p. 124 (Conn.)(67). Caroline J. (Ill.)(15).(1844)
$6,000/$7,000.
Base Map, pp. 87-89.

[86] Power, p. 230-231.
[87] Power, p. 537.
[88] Brick L-house with wooden L tucked into brick L and three rectangular wooden outbuildings-name "W. Pope".
Lot 6, Block 4, Old Town of Springfield
Photo and description "Bishop Seymour’s Old Residence on Second Street": February 4, 1941, J.R.:

[89] Erastus Wright Manuscript File, Manuscript Division, Illinois State Historical Library, Springfield, Illinois.
[90] Sandburg, v. I, pp. 206-207.
[91] 1881 History, p. 902. ...Isaac Bancroft, who was born April 29, 1776, and Mercy Coburn, who was born March 12, 1781. Native of Massachusetts, where they were married March 5, 1799...In 1803, ...emigrated to St. Lawrence county, New York, being the first man that paid for his land in the county...In 1839, left his home in St. Lawrence county, New York, coming through with teams and making the trip in six weeks, and located in Springfield, where they remained until 1844, when he died. Previous to his death he purchased the land in section nineteen, Cantrall, Fancy Creek Township, Sangamon County, Illinois.
[92] Roswell Abell was born on July 23, 1785, on Sharon Mountain, Litchfield County, Connecticut. He was married on October 22, 1807, to Betsy Mason, who was born on October 22, 1790, at Fort Ann, Washington County, New York. The fathers of both Roswell and Betsy fought in the Revolutionary War. Roswell and Betsy Abell had three children born at Granville, Washington County, New York. They moved to Springfield, arriving on July 15, 1836. In 1876 they lived at Rochester, Illinois, seven miles east of Springfield. Power, pp. 75-76.
[93] Power, p. 528. Thomas Moffitt, was born April 13, 1797, in that part of Montgomery, which is now Bath county, Kentucky, and came to Springfield, Illinois, November 14, 1826. He married January 22, 1829, in Morgan County, Illinois, to Eliza A. Gatton, who was born July 26, 1810, in Kentucky, also. They had eight children in Springfield. Thomas Moffitt taught school when he came to Springfield, devoting all the time at his command to the study of law, and was licensed to practice in 1828 or ‘9. He was Orderly Sergeant in a company from Sangamon county in the Winnebago war of 1827, and in 1832 was captain of a company in the Black Hawk war. He served two years as county commissioner, and from 1843 served as Judge of the Probate Court. Under the constitution of 1848, he was elected County Judge for four years. He has for many years been a Ruling Elder in the Second Presbyterian church of Springfield.
1881 History, pp. 50, 77,78, 83, 84, 111, 274, 282, 298, 431, 439, 605, 849, 885, 164.
[94] Power, p. 753 John B. Watson, born Feb. 10, 1800, in York District, South Carolina, and came to Illinois with his father, settling somewhere in Randolph county. He was married in Kaskaskia, April 9, 1829, to Mary Gillis, who was born in Wilmington, Delaware, Jan. 31, 1814. They moved to Springfield, soon after they were married, Mr. Watson having been to Sangamon county in 1827, to look at the country. J. B. Watson taught school the first year he resided in Springfield. He was afterwards county surveyor and engineer of the Great Western railroad. He went to California in 1849 and returned in 1852. Mrs. Mary Watson’s mother, Elizabeth Gillis, belonged to the Society of Friends, and she resided with her daughter in Springfield from about 1830 until her death, which occurred in August 1852.
[95] Power, p. 435-436: LAMB, JAMES L., brother to George Lamb, was born Nov. 7, 1800, at Connellsville, Fayette county, Penn. His father, George Lamb, died wile he was quite young, leaving six children to be cared for by the widowed mother. The family were members of the "Society of Friends". James early desired to assist his mother in bringing up the family, and at twelve years of age went to Cincinnati, making his trip on horseback, and engaged as clerk with Hugh Glenn, a relative of the family, and a prominent merchant of that city. In 1820 J. L. Lamb removed to Kaskaskia, Ill., where he engaged in mercantile pursuits and pork packing, in company with Col. Thos. Mather and S. B. Opdycke, at that place and at Chester, Ill. This firm packed and shipped the first barrel of pork ever sent to New Orleans from Illinois. J. L. Lamb was married, Jan. 13, 1824, at Cincinnati, Ohio, to Susan H. Cranmer, daughter of Dr. Cranmer of that city. She was born there, Aug. l3, 1803. They moved to Springfield, Ill., in 1831, and in moving his effects it was necessary to charter a boat at St. Louis, and take it up the Kaskaskia river to the village. This was the only instance of a steam boat ascending that stream. The goods were landed at Beardstown, and transported to Springfield in wagons. Mr. and Mrs. J. L. Lamb had seven children; two died young.
1881 History, p. 686: James L. Lamb one of the early merchants and for many years one of the leading business men of Springfield, was born in Connelsville, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, November 7, 1800. At twenty years of age he came to Illinois and located in Kaskaskia, formed a partnership with a brother-in-law, Thomas Mather, and I. B. Opdycke, and engaged in general merchandising, and also carried on beef and pork packing extensively, which they shipped south. This firm shipped the first cargo of barreled pork to New Orleans ever sent from Illinois. In 1824, Mr. Lamb, returned to Cincinnati, Ohio, and on June 13, of that year married Susan C. Cranmer, daughter of Dr. John Cranmer, of that city. They settled in Kaskaskia, where Mr. Lamb continued in business about eight years. In the fall of 1832, he severed his connection there and they moved to Springfield, and after a few months residence on Jefferson street settled on the site of Mrs. Lamb’s present large and beautiful homestead. The hazel brush were cleared away to make room for their primitive pioneer home, from which a cow-path lead up through where Adams street now is. Mr. Lamb assumed the mercantile business in Springfield on Jefferson street, opposite the present St. Charles hotel. From there he moved to the west side of the square, and later to the corner now occupied by Hall & Herrick, at the southeast corner of the square. A number of years previous to his death he retired from that branch of business, and devoted the last years of his life to buying and packing pork. He departed from this life on December 3, 1873.
Mr. Lamb was an extensive reader, especially of history and travels; possessed a vigorous, active mind, was very sociable and hospitable, and particularly fond of the society of the young. He was public spirited in a marked degree, and ready to contribute to whatever inured to the welfare and prosperity of Springfield. Descended from Quaker ancestry, the religious element was conspicuous in his nature. He was for many years a member and an elder in the Presbyterian Church.
Mr. and Mrs. Lamb had one son and five daughters born of their marital union, namely, John C., proprietor of the AEtna Iron Works of Springfield; Mrs. Gen. John Cook, Mrs. W. J. Black, Mrs. G.R. Brainerd, and a deceased daughter. All the living are residents of Sangamon county.
[96] Power , p. 82. 1881 History, pp. 287, 461.
[97] Calvin B. Francis 1881 History, pp. 216, 287, 298. The Abraham Lincoln Encyclopedia, p. 116-117. Power, p. 314:
[98] Josiah Francis 1860 police magistrate, h.: south side of. Mason, between. 7th and 8th (Conn.)(55). Power, p. 315: 1881 History, p. 217:
[99] Roll, John Eddy. Plasterer .Southeast Corner of Second and Cook 1854 Hart Map: Name only-"J. E. Roll"; no structures. 1858 Sides Map: Name "J. E. Roll"-large wooden square on large tract from 2nd to 3rd along Cook and the north 2/3’s of the block.
Friend of Lincoln since 1831. Power, p. 628. Photo: house-Register, 12/10/1964-p. 20.
Wife: H.V--(f)(N.Y.)45). F.P--(m)(Ill.)(8). J.L--(m)(Ill.)6). 1860 C.D. 1860 census, p. 498 (N.J.)(46).
$100,000/$3,000.
Photo (1814-1901)